Frosted Heart
by SedatedDreams
Summary: Many, many seasons before the era of Firestar, during one of the harshest leaf-bares that the five Clans of the forest have ever seen, Frost, a young kit, is left alone in ShadowClan. Unwanted by her father, and orphaned after the death of her mother, Frost must fight for friends, for love, and for her place in a Clan that never truly accepted her.
1. Chapter 1: Frost

"Please, we need your help," the grey and white she-cat begged, taking a step towards a fluffy white tom, the frozen grass crinkling under her paws like glass.

The white tom blinked his green eyes, tilting his head.

"Why?" he asked with a yawn, his breath leaving a foggy trail through the air.

 _"'Why?'"_ the grey-and-white she-cat repeated incredulously, widening her blue eyes. "We're starving!"

The she-cat's normally fluffy white coat was ragged, and even her beautiful grey point coloration on her face, tail, and paws appeared dull and dirty. Her ribs jutted out from under her coat and her deep blue eyes were sunken into her skull.

"That's not my problem, May," the white tom meowed, twitching his whiskers.

"What do you mean, _not your problem?_ " May hissed through her fangs.

"This has been one of the hardest leaf-bares in memory," the white tom meowed. "We're _all_ hungry. Rumor is that ThunderClan has barely any prey left at all."

"I don't care about ThunderClan," May said.

"Well neither do I," the white tom said with a snort. "Mangy mice-munchers, all of them."

"Don't change the subject!" May hissed.

"Look, May," the white tom sighed. "There's nothing I can do for you."

"If you do nothing, then I will die," May growled, lashing her tail. "You do realized that, don't you?"

The white tom was silent, glaring at her with his sharp green eyes.

"I will die and so will Frost. Your own kit, Paledusk! She's the only one left!" May said, her voice breaking over the last few words.

Paledusk was silent. He did not even give a tail twitch to betray his thoughts. The silence stretched on between them.

"I can't believe you," May whispered, clenching her jaw.

She flattened her bristling fur. It wasn't like she could fight him anyways. He was much stronger than her.

"I'm sorry May. I really am," Paledusk meowed, getting to his paws to walk over to her. "Things are just really hard in camp right now. Prey is scarce. The deputy is ill... SkyClan can't spare food for two more mouths to feed."

"And, you can't let your precious clan-mates know that you fathered kits with a rogue!" May spat.

Paledusk blinked.

"The Clan must come first, May," he rumbled.

"Mousedung!" May hissed.

"Come on, don't be like that," Paledusk meowed, coming over to May to press his pelt to her's.

"I thought you loved me!" May cried, pulling herself away from him, and digging her claws into the frozen ground.

Paledusk was silent again, his green eyes as cold as the ice around them.

"I thought I did once too," he said.

"The blood of your children is on your paws," May said, her voice low.

"So be it," Paledusk meowed, turning away. "I won't lose sleep over the death of some kits I've never met."

" _Go eat deathberries,_ Paledusk," May said, her paws trembling with anger, and her chest aching as she felt her heart breaking under her ribs.

Paledusk's tufted ears pricked, and he stopped walking.

"You better run, May," Paledusk growled quietly. "A patrol is coming."

May froze. She could hear the sounds of cats pushing their way through the bushes, then some yowls as they picked up an unfamiliar scent.

Her scent.

"A trespasser!" the faint cry drifted over to her.

Paledusk whipped around, facing May again.

"She's over here!" Paledusk shouted, baring his teeth at May. "It's a rogue."

"What are you doing?!" May spat, her fur bristling as panic surged through her.

She could hear the SkyClan patrol approaching, crashing through the undergrowth as they sprinted over.

"Where are you Paledusk?" someone on the patrol cried.

Paledusk sprung at May with a battle-cry, flashing a paw out to score his claws down May's shoulder.

May cried out in pain, then turned tail and sprinted off. Her legs shook as she ran, panting and bleeding. But, she couldn't slow. She could hear Paledusk and the rest of the SkyClan patrol behind her, only a few tail lengths away. Finally, she reached the scent markers, shooting over them and into the unclaimed territory beyond.

"Yeah, stay out, you prey-stealer!" a SkyClan cat shouted from behind her.

"Mangy rogue!" another jeered.

"If I see your face around here again, I'll rip your throat out," Paledusk snarled.

May ran, her head down and blood streaming down her side.

XXXX

May padded through the unfamiliar forest, towering pine trees all around her, and a tiny, fluffy white kit at her paws.

"I'm tired, Mama," the tiny kit squeaked, teetering on unsteady legs.

"I know, baby. Just a bit further," May meowed.

She was exhausted herself. Her shoulder wound was still dripping blood, and every step she took felt like a mile. Her legs trembled and her breath was laborious like she had been running for days.

"Are we going to see Daddy?" the tiny kit said, stumbling along behind her.

"No we aren't," May said, closing her eyes briefly as burning anger and pain washed over her. "Your dad is..."

May glanced down at her kit and felt the words get stuck in her throat. Her kit blinked up at her with huge pale blue eyes. May could see the faintest hint of grey on her kit's nose. She knew it would darken in these coming moons, along with the fur on her tail and paws to the same grey on May's face, tail, and feet.

If she made it through these moons.

Her kit looked skeletal, with ribs that poked out under her downy, soft kit-fur and eyes that seemed much too big for her sharp, bony face, and teetering stick-thin legs.

"Don't talk," May murmured, bending her head to nudge her kit forward with her nose. "Save your strength for walking."

"But, I don't want to walk," the kit cried. "I'm so hungry Mama. And, cold. I want to sleep."

"You can't sleep!" May said, whirling on her kit.

Her kit blinked hard, stumbling backwards and onto her haunches in surprise. Her kit let out a faint whimpering cry.

"I'm sorry, Frost. I'm sorry," May cried, wrapping herself around her kit.

She pressed her thin coat to Frost, trying to offer her as much protection from the cold wind as she could. Frost nuzzled into her fur, and May pressed her muzzle to Frost's head. Underneath the sharp bite of ice and snow, she could still scent Frost's sweet kit-smell, and May took a trembling breath of it and held it in her lungs. She didn't want to breath out, in fear that this could be the last time she ever smelt that sweetness.

"You can't sleep, baby. If you sleep you might not wake up," May whispered, feeling her shoulders shake as she said the words.

"Like Rain and Snow?" Frost whispered into May's pelt.

May trembled in grief. She screwed her eyes shut, thinking of Frost's brothers, her dead sons.

"Yes, Frost," May whispered.

"Don't worry, Mama," Frost mewed, peering up at her mother. "I'll never leave you."

"Sometimes you don't have a choice, baby," May whispered, her voice choked up as she stroked Frost's fur with her tail.

"I smell trespassers!" a voice cried from the bushes, causing May's head to jerk up.

May looked over and saw a patrol of cats stride out of the shadows of the pine trees. A light brown tabby tom with long legs was at its head. A dappled grey tom was at his side. Behind him was a ginger she-cat and a smaller black tom. May didn't even rise from the ground to meet them. She didn't have the strength left in her body. Instead, she just wrapped her tail tighter around Frost, hiding her from sight.

"Get out of here, rogue!" the dappled grey tom snarled, looming over May.

May cowered down, tucking her tail more tightly around her kit.

"Put your claws away, Swoopstrike. Can't you see she's not a threat?" the light brown tabby tom said to the dappled grey tom, his voice mild. "She's all bones and fur."

"She's trespassing!" Swoopstrike protested, but he obeyed, taking a step back and sheathing his claws.

"...I know I'm on ShadowClan territory," May broke in, her voice hoarse.

"You do?" the light brown tabby said in surprise, turning away from Swoopstrike.

"I came here because I need your help. Please," May begged.

"You don't seem to be in too good of shape," the light brown tabby commented, gaze flickering over her ragged pelt. "But, why have you come to ShadowClan for help?"

"I—I thought ShadowClan might take me in," May stammered.

"We don't take in strays," Swoopstrike said, his tail tip twitching.

"Please. I have a kit," May begged, moving her tail to reveal Frost by her side.

During the few moments that the ShadowClan patrol had appeared, Frost had fallen asleep on her flank. She twitched fainted as May touched her nose to her head to make sure she was still breathing.

"She won't make it much longer. Her litter-mates are already dead," May meowed, her voice pleading. "I can't lose her too."

The ginger she-cat on the patrol padded up to May and Frost. May tensed as she approached, but she didn't move away. The ginger she-cat gently touched her nose to Frost's side.

"The poor thing," the ginger she-cat whispered.

"We have to help them, Sedgestar," the ginger she-cat meowed, turning to the light brown tabby tom. "They won't last two more sunrises on their own."

"Sedge _star_?" May meowed to the tabby tom, her eyes widening. "You're ShadowClan's leader?"

"...You seem to know an awful lot about our customs for a rogue," Sedgestar meowed, his voice slightly wary.

"Her father is a clan cat," May explained, nodding towards Frost. "He taught me some things, like how all the leader's names end in 'star.'"

"A clan cat? A ShadowClan cat?" Sedgestar asked, tensing as his amber eyes flashed.

"No," May meowed quietly. "SkyClan."

"Ah," Sedgestar said, relaxing slightly. "Who?"

May was silent, her jaw clenching.

"Why haven't you gone to him in SkyClan?" Sedgestar asked, dropping the question for the moment.

"They won't have us. Her father is who did this to me," May muttered darkly, nodding towards the wound on her shoulder.

Sedgestar took a few steps towards her to get a better look at the wound. May flinched away as he approached, but he didn't lay a paw on her.

"Don't worry," Sedgestar growled, locking his gaze with May's after glancing at her wound. "ShadowClan is not so dishonorable. You and your kit are welcome to stay with us for now. We will take you to our camp."

"Thank you, Sedgestar," May gasped, stumbling to her feet.

Frost's eyes flickered open and she mewed weakly as her mother's warm side against her vanished. May swayed on her paws and almost fell over before Sedgestar stepped in, allowing her to steady herself on his side.

"It is our pleasure...?" Sedgestar meowed, blinking at her questioningly.

"May," May said.

"May," Sedgestar repeated with a nod. "Emberflower, will you carry the kit?"

The ginger she-cat scooped up the kit, gently securing her scruff in her jaws.

"She's so light," Emberflower gasped.

Sedgestar glanced over at the tiny kit in Emberflower's mouth.

"And she is?" he asked.

"Frost," May said. "Her name is Frost."

* * *

 _The Ancient Clans_

 _Allegiances:_

Cats outside of Clans:

May— a thin, fluffy grey-point she-cat with blue eyes (Mate: Paledusk, Mother of Frostkit)

ShadowClan:

Leader: Sedgestar— a light brown, long legged, tabby tom with amber eyes (mate: Emberflower)

Deputy: Grovepelt— a pale brown tom with a greying muzzle and green eyes

Medicine cat: Clearstream— a fluffy light grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice: Elmclaw— a dark tabby tom with green eyes

Warriors: Emberflower— a ginger she-cat with green eyes (mate: Sedgestar)

Apprentice: Beepaw— a black tom

Darkpelt— a black tom (Mate: Larkfoot)

Apprentice: Hootpaw— a grey tom

Weaseltail— a brown tabby and white tom with amber eyes and a long tail (Mate: Redclaw)

Kestrelmoon— a pale cream tom (Mate: Amberberry)

Dustleap—a light ginger tom

Apprentice: Thornpaw— a brown tabby tom

Dawntail— a fluffy grey and white she-cat

Marshnose— a brown tabby tom with a white muzzle

Fogfur— a fluffy grey tom with green eyes

Snakeeyes— a sleek white she-cat with a blue eye and a green eye (Mate: Rowanheart)

Apprentice: Leafpaw— a grey tabby she-cat

Swoopstrike— a dappled grey tabby tom with green eyes

Dappledpelt— a tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Rowanheart— a ginger tom (Mate: Snakeeyes)

Queens: Larkfoot— a pale tabby she-cat (Mate: Darkpelt. Dampkit— a fluffy black tom, Dewkit— a grey she-cat)

Redclaw— a tortoiseshell she-cat with dark ginger patches and green eyes (Mate: Weaseltail Kits: Pinekit— a black she-cat with amber eyes, Poolkit— a black and white tom with amber eyes Autumnkit— dark ginger and white tom with amber eyes. Foster kit: Frostkit— a fluffy tabby grey-point she-cat with tufted ears, pale blue eyes, and white paws)

Amberberry— a golden she-cat (Mate: Krestrelmoon. Mosskit— a golden she-cat, Murmurkit— a pale cream she-cat)

Elders: Treefur— a dark brown tom with poor eyesight

Greytail— a grey she-cat

Flymask— a black and white tom

SkyClan:

Leader: Fennelstar— a pale brown tom with bushy fur

Deputy: Robinsong— a tortoiseshell she-cat with a ginger belly.

Medicine cat: Swallowfur— a blue-grey she-cat

Warriors: Paledusk— a fluffy white tom with tufted ears and green eyes

Sparrowheart— a dappled brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice: Yewpaw— a dark brown tabby tom

Cloudleap— a long legged grey and white tom

Brokenbranch— a ginger tom with a bend in his tail

Oakflight— a dark ginger tom

Stormfang— a grey tom

Poppyfur— a tortoiseshell she-cat

Suneyes— a grey she-cat with bright amber eyes

Queens: Doepelt— a light brown tabby she-cat

Elders: Birdstrike— a heavily scarred, pale grey she-cat (Mother of Paledusk)

RiverClan:

Leader: Willowstar— a grey tabby, sleek furred she-cat

Deputy: Perchpelt— a brown tabby tom

Medicine cat: Pebblestripe— a dark grey tabby tom

Warriors: Violetfur— a black she-cat

Stoneripple— a grey tabby tom

Apprentice: Turtlepaw— a brown and white tom

Waterwhisker— a fluffy ginger and white she-cat

Heronfur— a brown tabby tom

Ospreyscar— a brown and white tom with a long scar down his side

Wavepelt— a grey she-cat with long, wavy fur

Rainspot— a dappled black and white she-cat

Apprentice: Murkpaw— a black tom

Queens: Sandpelt— a pale ginger she-cat

Reedheart— a tortoiseshell she-cat

Elders: Fishtail— a white and grey tom with a long tail

Sleekclaw— a nearly blind, once beautiful tabby she-cat

ThunderClan:

Leader: Morningstar— a pale grey tom

Deputy: Leafstorm— a ginger she-cat with green eyes

Medicine cat: Pearnose— a dark brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice: Fallowpaw— a pale brown and white tom

Warriors: Pineclaw— a dark brown tom with a big rip in one ear

Beechfur— a brown tabby tom

Apprentice: Rockpaw— a grey tom

Fernclaw— a tortoiseshell she-cat

Acornear— a brown tom

Nettlepelt— a dark grey she-cat with spiky fur

Apprentice: Foxpaw— a ginger she-cat

Birchtail— a grey and white tom

Brambledapple— a tabby and white she-cat

Queens: None

Elders: Mothwhisker— a brown tom with a lot of patchy, greying fur

WindClan:

Leader: Rabbitstar— a light ginger tom

Deputy: Wheatfur— a golden tabby she-cat

Medicine cat: Falconpelt— a brown tabby tom

Warriors: Tumblefox— a ginger tom

Apprentice: Eaglepaw— a golden-brown tom

Slatepelt— a grey she-cat

Runningfoot— a dark tabby tom

Oatbreeze— a tortoiseshell and white she-cat

Volefur— a pale grey tom

Pounceclaw— a black tom

Nighteyes— a black and white she-cat with blue eyes

Stormcloud— a grey tabby and white tom

Queens: Thrushleap— a tan tabby she-cat (mate to Rabbitstar)

Elders: Harepelt— a brown tom with a grey muzzle

Deerdash— a long-legged tabby she-cat

* * *

 _Author's Note: To give a little bit of context for this story, it takes place following the events of one of the stories from the field guide, "Battles of The Clans" (which I headcanon to take place approximately 15 years before Cloudstar's born in SkyClan.) Just to give a quick re-cap, in that story the clans are going through a horrible winter, and Morningstar, ThunderClan's leader begs the other clan-leaders for food, and they refuse him. Then rather than let ThunderClan starve, Morningstar goes to battle with WindClan. So, the leaders of the Clans in this story, as well as some ThunderClan characters like Leafstorm, Pearnose, and Mothwhisker are canon characters, but practically everyone else are my OC's. I hope you enjoy!_


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to ShadowClan

Frost blinked awake in the nursery of the ShadowClan camp. They had only been there a few sunrises, but Frost was already growing stronger. She was warm now, and her belly was full for the first time that she could remember. Her paws no longer trembled when she stood, and her skin no longer ached with cold.

The nursery was crowded with queens and kits despite the bitter leaf-bare that locked the forest in its jaws. There were three ShadowClan queens—Larkfoot and her 5 moon old kits Dampkit and Dewkit, Redclaw with her kits Pinekit, Poolkit, and Autumnkit, who were one moon old, only a few sunrises older than Frost, and Amberberry with her newborns, Mosskit and Murmurkit.

The queens all seemed nice enough, although Frost had not left her mother's side since they got there, and so she hadn't actually spoken to them. The cat that she saw the most was named Clearstream, the one the others called "medicine cat." Frost didn't understand a lot of the words some of the other cats used. But, she didn't like this "medicine cat." Clearstream was soft spoken with gentle blue eyes, but she kept making Frost and her mother eat these terrible tasting leaves.

Frost sighed, wondering if Clearstream or her "apprentice," _another strange word,_ Elmclaw would come by with more leaves today. Frost went to snuggle into her mother's side, but recoiled with surprise when she felt that her mother's fur was cold.

"Mama?" Frost peeped, pressing a paw to her mother's side.

May did not stir. She remained curled up. Her eyes were shut, and her fluffy tail was covering her muzzle. Her face looked calm and peaceful.

"Mama?" Frost called a bit louder.

One of the other queens, Redclaw, the tortoiseshell with bright red patches, stirred in her nest, her three kits still calmly sleeping by her belly.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Frost didn't reply to the stranger, instead she continued to prod at her mother with her paw, trying to get her to wake up.

"Oh no," Redclaw muttered. "Larkfoot!"

Larkfoot, a pale tabby queen, blinked awake in her nest.

"Go get Clearstream!" Redclaw meowed.

Larkfoot's eyes widened as she shot one look at May and Frost, then she got to her paws and dashed out of the den.

"Where are you going?" Dewkit meowed, blinking awake as her mother Larkfoot bounded out of the nursery.

Only a few moments later, Larkfoot was back, with Clearstream in tow, along with Elmclaw and Sedgestar.

Frost recoiled at the sight of the silver tabby, her eyes widening as the already crowded nursery was suddenly filled with cats.

Clearstream's brow was furrowed, her eyes concerned.

"…She was so weak when she got here. She wasn't improving much, but I thought she could still pull through…" Clearstream was meowing, walking up to May.

Frost crouched down, flattening herself against the moss of the nest, eyes flashing with confusion and fear.

Clearstream bent down and pressed her ear to May's chest. Then she straightened, sadly shaking her head.

"A shame," Sedgestar said in his deep meow. "I saw a warrior's spirit in her."

Sedgestar nodded towards the exit of the den.

"Let's take her body out," he meowed.

Frost's eyes flashed in confusion as Elmclaw and Clearstream flanked May and lifted her between them. May slouched between them, her head lolling as the medicine cats picked her up from the nest, heading towards the entrance of the nursery.

"Wait!" Frost meowed, suddenly finding her voice as she scrambled to her paws.

"Where are you taking her? Stop!" Frost cried as they walked May outside.

"Stay here, little one," Elmclaw rumbled, flashing her a glance of his sharp green eyes over his shoulder.

"Come here, Frostkit," Redclaw called softly, getting to her paws.

 _"My name is Frost!"_ Frost meowed, stumbling forward after May.

"Mama!" Frost yowled.

Redclaw padded over to her, wrapping her tail around her.

 _"Mama!"_ Frost cried, trying to scramble away from her.

"Shh, she's gone," Redclaw meowed, reaching a paw out to stop Frost.

"Mama…" Frost repeated weakly.

"It'll be okay little one," Redclaw said softly, pulling Frost close again.

Frost was silent. She stood still, quiet and stiff as Redclaw nuzzled her head, and Redclaw's unfamiliar fur and scent enveloped her.

XXXX

"I just don't understand why we have to play with _her!"_ Autumnkit complained, blinking angrily up at Redclaw.

"Because leaving Frostkit out is mean," Redclaw meowed sternly, glaring down at her son.

Frostkit sat silently at Redclaw's side, staring emptily down at the ground.

"But, look at her just sitting there!" Pinekit meowed with a sniff, wrinkling up her black nose. "She's no fun!"

Frostkit continued to sit in silence, scuffling her paws on the mossy nursery fur.

"Yeah! And, she's a rogue!" Poolkit added. "Beepaw told me; he was on the patrol that found her."

"So, we don't want to play with her," Autumnkit finished, giving his dark ginger and white pelt a self-satisfied shake.

"Too bad you have no choice in the matter," Redclaw growled. "Frostkit isn't going anywhere, so you three better learn to play nice."

Poolkit, Autumnkit, and Pinekit muttered unhappily to each other with twitching tails as Redclaw bent her head to nudge Frostkit forward with her muzzle.

"Go on, Frostkit," Redclaw said.

Quietly, Frostkit walked over to the other kits.

"Ugh, fine," Pinekit meowed. "But, she's not on my team!"

"I'm with Pinekit!" Poolkit meowed quickly, bounding over to his sister.

"Hey!" Autumnkit protested as Pinekit and Poolkit dashed out of the nursery.

He sighed, looking over at Frostkit. Frostkit looked over at him with big pale blue eyes in her fluffy grey face.

"Alright, come on," Autumnkit muttered, walking out of the den slowly as Frostkit silently followed.

Frostkit blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight outside of the den. The air was cold, but the sun was shining brightly. A chilly leaf-bare breeze blew through camp, but Frostkit barely felt it. She had gotten bigger since May's death, stronger too, and her coat had gotten thicker and longer. Her pelt was a creamy-white everywhere but her face, tail, and paws were a light grey, just like her mother. She hadn't seen those same markings on any other cat in camp. Although, maybe there were other cats she hadn't seen; she was still getting used to number of cats in the camp. There was almost an overwhelming amount.

"Okay, we get to be ShadowClan warriors," Pinekit meowed, gesturing with her tail to herself and Poolkit. "You two are ThunderClan!"

"Why do we have to be ThunderClan!" Autumnkit protested.

"Because you two are smelly mice-munchers," Pinekit meowed smugly.

"Am not!" Autumnkit said, springing at Pinekit.

He bowled his sister over, and they went tumbling head over tail.

"Get Frostkit!" Pinekit meowed to Poolkit. "Smelly ThunderClan warriors are attacking!"

Poolkit sprung at Frostkit. Frostkit ducked under his leap. Poolkit turned and swiped at her, and again Frostkit leapt out of his way. Poolkit pounced with a frustrated snarl, but Frostkit just dodged again. Poolkit was big and clumsy, while Frostkit was small, nimble and quick.

"Aren't you going to fight me mouse-heart!" Poolkit meowed, his black-and-white tail twitching. "ShadowClan never runs from a fight!"

Frostkit was silent, hanging back from him.

"You're no fun!" Poolkit snapped, turning to spring at Autumnkit instead.

He and Pinekit quickly ganged up on Autumnkit, and soon they had him pinned, squeaking and withering under them.

"Let me up!" Autumnkit cried.

"Can't you fight us, Autumnkit?" Pinekit taunted. "Or, are you as weak as a WindClan cat?"

"I'm not a WindClan cat!" Autumnkit meowed angrily, futilely struggling under his siblings paws.

"Oh, yeah? Then why are you so—" Pinekit began. "Oomph!"

Pinekit's mew was cut short when Frostkit leapt at her, barreling her over and sending the two of them tumbling through the dirt. Autumnkit buckled with more vigor from under Poolkit, shaking him off.

"Get off me, rogue!" Pinekit snarled, grappling with Frostkit on the ground.

Frostkit narrowed her pale blue eyes at her, flipping over on top of her.

"Watch out Frostkit!" Autumnkit meowed.

Frostkit turned and saw Poolkit leaping at her. Frostkit ducked under Poolkit, and sprung off of Pinekit. Poolkit and Pinekit whirled on her side by side, snarling. They stalked up to Frostkit, growling. Frostkit crouched close to the ground, quickly backpedaling away from them.

Frostkit felt a rush of air over her as Autumnkit sprung over her head, landing in front of her and rearing back on his hindpaws. He sent his siblings flying with two powerful swats of his paws before falling back onto all four of his feet.

"Ow! You hit me really hard, Autumnkit!" Poolkit meowed accusingly, reaching his paw up to his sore jaw.

"I've had enough of this dumb game!" Autumnkit snapped. "You two aren't playing fair!"

"What's the matter with you? Normally you're fun," Pinekit said, glaring at Autumnkit.

"I'm going back to the nursery," Autumnkit said, turning around with a swish of his dark ginger tail.

Frostkit silently followed Autumnkit away, not looking at Poolkit or Pinekit.

"Leave me alone," Autumnkit meowed to Frostkit as they entered the bramble tunnel that led to the nursery. "It's your fault that they're being so mean."

Frostkit hesitated, her paws faltering.

Autumnkit cast a glance back at her over his shoulder. He sighed.

"I guess you can't help it that you don't have any friends," he meowed.

Frostkit had been gazing at her paws, but she lifted her eyes to meet Autumnkit when he said that. Autumnkit and Frostkit just stared at each other in silence for a few heartbeats.

"Do you ever say anything at all?" Autumnkit meowed, brow furrowing.

"…Yeah," Frostkit meowed softly in reply.

"Oh," Autumnkit said with a blink of surprise.

Autumnkit turned back towards the nursery.

"Come on," he meowed, disappearing into the thicket.

Frostkit padded forward and followed him into the nursery.

XXXX

Redclaw hesitated at edge of the roots of big Oak Tree, near the entrance of the leader's den.

"Come in, Redclaw," Sedgestar meowed from inside the den, scenting her presence.

Redclaw twined her way through the twisting root tunnel, coming out into the warm, but dimly lit den, cozily lined with moss. Sedgestar sat in the center of the den with his brown tail wrapped neatly around his paws. Sedgestar's mate Emberflower sat to his left, and the deputy Grovepelt sat to his right.

"You asked to see me?" Redclaw meowed, eyeing the slightly intimidating group of cats before her.

"Yes," Sedgestar meowed, inclining his head to her. "Have a seat, Redclaw."

Redclaw obeyed, settling onto the soft moss.

"As you know, tonight is the night of the gathering," Sedgestar said. "And, so I must decide what to tell the other Clans about our newest member, Frostkit."

"Yes…" Redclaw meowed slowly, not sure where the leader was going with this.

"Frostkit has been under your care for some paw-fuls of sunrises now. So, tell me, what has she said of her father?" Sedgestar asked.

"Nothing," Redclaw meowed, her brow furrowed at the unusual question. "I mean, I think she knows she has a father. But, she's never met him. She's not even told me his name."

Sedgestar nodded.

"I see…" he meowed, his gaze thoughtful.

"I assumed he is just some rogue, like her mother, is he not?" Redclaw meowed.

Sedgestar was silent. Redclaw gazed at him.

"If I may…" Redclaw said, her voice hesitant and halting. "Why are you asking me about this, Sedgestar?"

Sedgestar's glanced at Redclaw.

"Frostkit's father is not a rogue. He is a SkyClan warrior," Sedgestar meowed.

"What?" Redclaw said, her eyes stretched wide. "Who?"

"I don't know," Sedgestar said, shaking his head. "I thought Frostkit may, but it seems like she does not. The identity of her father appears to have died with May."

Sedgestar shot a sharp glance at Redclaw.

"How does Frostkit get along with your kits? Have they accepted her?" he asked.

"Wait a moment," Redclaw meowed, ignoring his questions. "Are you thinking of getting rid of her? Giving Frostkit to SkyClan!"

Sedgestar sighed.

"May told me that she met with her mate and tried to seek shelter with SkyClan, but that he drove her away," Sedgestar meowed. "However, the warrior code forbids the negligence of kits in need. If I were to bring up Frostkit during the gathering, in front of all of the Clans and their leaders, Fennelstar would have no choice but to take Frostkit in, or face backlash from all of the Clans."

"Why do you want to get rid of her?" Redclaw demanded, the red and black fur on her back rising. "And, send her to a father that doesn't want her? She's just a kit! She's done nothing wrong!"

"I have nothing against Frostkit. I am not heartless, Redclaw," Sedgestar said, shooting her a look out of narrowed amber eyes. "I am just trying to do what is best for my Clan. We are in the middle of a difficult leaf-bare. And, the nursery is full of ShadowClan-born kits. We have no space or fresh-kill to spare."

"How do you know that the father will step forward? SkyClan could just say that you are lying," Redclaw pointed out. "And, if it is fresh-kill you are worried about, then Frostkit can have my share."

"And, mine," Emberflower said, shooting her mate a pointed look.

Sedgestar glanced over at Emberflower and his gaze softened.

"Is this truly what you want?" Sedgestar asked, looking back at Redclaw. "You already have three other kits to raise."

"Frostkit hasn't even been here for a moon," Redclaw meowed, raising her chin to meet her leader's gaze levelly. "But, I already love her as I do Autumnkit, Pinekit, and Poolkit."

Sedgestar was silent for a moment as he deliberated.

"Very well. She can stay," Sedgestar meowed, giving a decisive nod.

Redclaw's tail curled up in delight.

"On one condition…" Sedgestar added. "Frostkit cannot know that her father is from SkyClan."

"Okay," Redclaw said slowly, her excitement fading at Sedgestar's serious tone. "But, why?"

"You will be Frostkit's mother. Weaseltail shall be her father. And, ShadowClan shall be her Clan," Sedgestar said. "I will not raise a kit that becomes a warrior whose loyalty might come into question. In the heat of battle, I will not have her hesitate because of the remains of some bond of kinship."

"Do you understand?" Sedgestar asked.

Redclaw nodded.

"Good," Sedgestar replied. "As you said, her father does not want her anyway. It will do Frostkit no harm to grow up without knowing his existence."

"To prevent Frostkit from finding out about her parentage, the less cats who know it the better. So, you are to tell no other cat that you know her father is a SkyClan warrior," Sedgestar continued. "Even Weaseltail. The only other cats who know are Grovepelt and Emberflower."

Sedgestar nodded towards the cats at his side.

"And, Beepaw and Swoopstrike, the cats that were on the patrol that found May and Frostkit."

Sedgestar turned to Emberflower.

"Can we trust that Beepaw stays quiet?" Sedgestar asked, his gaze softening again as he looked at his mate. "Apprentices are notoriously chatty."

"Beepaw is nearing the end of his training," Emberflower replied. "He is a serious and loyal cat. He will do as you say."

Sedgestar nodded.

"Good," he meowed. "And, I will speak with Swoopstrike. He's hot-headed, but smart and fiercely loyal. As much as he doesn't like the fact that Frostkit's father is a SkyClan warrior, I'm sure he will see the wisdom behind my words and keep his mouth shut."

Sedgestar turned his attention back to Redclaw.

"I will tell the other Clans that ShadowClan has taken in an orphaned rogue she-kit and is raising her as our own. And, mention nothing of SkyClan," Sedgestar meowed. "You are dismissed."


	3. Chapter 3: Leaf-bare's Long Claws

Frostkit sat quietly in the shade of the thorn bush that covered the nursery. The camp in front of her was covered in a glistening, white blanket of snow that glowed almost harshly in the morning light of dawn. Even though Frostkit was out of the snow and warm in the shelter of the nursery and her thick pelt, she still shivered. She remembered her trek through the forest, stumbling behind her mother, the aching of her cold paws, and the wind's horrid, icy bite. That thought brought back more memories, images of her brothers and the small, cold, cramped den where they spent the entirety of their short lives. But, those pictures were already fading from Frostkit's mind. She could barely recall Rain's grey pelt and Snow's bright white one. That memory of that walk, though, was seared into her mind forever.

Frostkit looked over her shoulder and back into the nursery. She saw the sleeping forms of Autumnkit, Pinekit, and Poolkit curled up near the side of their mother, Redclaw. Frostkit studied the shapes of the kits.

 _My new siblings..?_ she thought hesitantly.

They weren't much of a family to her, though. Redclaw was caring enough and didn't treat Frostkit any differently than she did her own kits, but her kits often didn't bother to engage with Frostkit at all. Pinekit was the ringleader, and Poolkit followed her lead. Autumnkit was the only tolerable one. He would talk to her without wrinkling his nose up or calling her a rogue at least.

Frostkit sighed, turning away from the sleeping cats and looking back out into camp.

She wished her mother was here. She wanted the family she had known, even if it was only for a brief moment of her life. Frostkit shivered again, feeling terribly alone.

 _ShadowClan,_ Frostkit thought, looking at the clearing in front of her.

She had been here for almost two moons now, but still the Clan felt foreign to her. The warriors weren't cruel necessarily, but they did stare and whisper sometimes. Frostkit thought it might have to do with the strange coloring of her pelt. May looked like her, but no forest cat seemed to. Every time they saw Frostkit and her white fur and her grey face, they were reminded that she was a stranger.

The tom called Swoopstrike was the harshest on Frostkit. He would snap at her for being underfoot when she would bat around a piece of moss in front of the nursery. Sometimes he muttered about wasting food on rogues when she took a piece of fresh-kill from the pile. And, Frostkit could see him eyeing her sometimes from across the clearing, like he was just waiting for her to do something wrong.

Frostkit heaved in a deep breath. She didn't know why all these cats; Swoopstrike, Pinekit, Poolkit, and others seemed to hate her for just existing.

 _It's not like I really want to be here anyways. But, I have no where to go. ShadowClan is the only place for me._

Frostkit glanced back at Redclaw's sleeping form again. It wasn't all terrible here, at least. Frostkit liked Redclaw and her firm, but caring demeanor. She was not May, but she was still a good cat. Weaseltail was growing on her too. He payed attention to her along with his three kits when he came to visit the nursery, and the other day he showed her the hunter's crouch. And, Autumnkit too was okay…

Frostkit's ears pricked as she heard a large patrol entering the camp. It was the cats that went to the gathering last night, returning home with the rising sun. The cats were talking to each other in hushed, but tension-filled voices, and they gathered in the center of camp to converse. Curiosity prickling through her, Frostkit listened into their conversation.

"Can you believe ThunderClan?" a black tom meowed in an incredulous voice.

 _Darkpelt,_ Frostkit thought, remembering his name. She had seen him in the nursery sometimes, before his kits became ShadowClan's newest apprentices, Damppaw and Dewpaw.

"They are just asking to get their pelts ripped off," Swoopstrike growled in agreement to Darkpelt. "What frog-brains. Did you see Fennelstar's eyes _gleam_ when Morningstar admitted how weak ThunderClan is? And Rabbitstar looked so smug. SkyClan and WindClan are going to take all their territory for themselves before they can say ' _mouse.'"_

"SkyClan and WindClan should leave them alone," Clearstream meowed, her blue eyes wide with worry. "In cold, harsh times like these StarClan doesn't want us to fight. We should be focusing our energy on hunting."

"I've known Robinsong for seasons while she's been deputy," Grovepelt meowed. "She is a reasonable cat, and she will stop Fennelstar from doing anything too rash."

"Rabbitstar on the other paw…" Flymask growled, his grizzled, white muzzle crumpling up in disdain. "Is a uppity young tom that thinks he's StarClan's gift to WindClan. If Morningstar really believed he could get WindClan to stop stealing prey by _asking nicely_ he's got another thing coming."

"Did you see how frail Robingsong looked?" Elmclaw added, his deep voice rumbling. "She's clearly very sick. I'm surprised she even went to the gathering, and I doubt she has much influence over Fennelstar in the condition she's in."

"Why didn't she stay back in camp?" Leafpaw pipped up in a curious voice.

Frostkit had been thinking the same thing.

"Leaders always take their deputies to gatherings. I'm sure Fennelstar didn't want to appear weak by leaving her at home," her mentor, Snakeeyes answered, blinking her two-colored eyes down at her apprentice.

"No one wants to appear weak in the middle of leaf-bare," Emberflower agreed.

"Which, again, is why Morningstar is so frog-brained," Swoopstrike said.

"What happens if SkyClan and WindClan take all of ThunderClan's territory and prey, and they get really strong?" Beeclaw asked, a hint of trepidation in his voice.

Frostkit thought he looked small standing next to Darkpelt; he, along with his brothers Hootflight and Thornheart, were ShadowClan's newest warriors.

"Yeah, what are we going to do, Sedgestar?" Dustleap, a ginger tom, meowed, turning to the leader, who had thus far just been standing in camp in a thoughtful silence.

"Let me call the rest of the Clan," Sedgestar meowed in an even voice, betraying none of his thoughts.

Sedgestar turned and bounded up the big, leaning boulder at the edge of the camp, dislodging puffs of powdery snow in the process.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath Clanrock for a Clan meeting!" Sedgestar yowled, his voice ringing out loud and clear through the camp.

Frostkit turned to look behind her into the nursery, where the queens and kits were stirring. Redclaw raised her head from her nest, blinking her eyes sleepily.

"Was that Sedgestar?" Redclaw asked, turning towards Amberberry.

"I think so," Amberberry replied with a yawn. "Something must have happened at the gathering."

"Do we get to go see?" Mosskit meowed excitedly, stumbling over Murmurkit in her excitement to get to her paws.

Her sister let out a soft mew of protest.

"Ow careful!" Murmurkit said irritably, swiping a paw at Mosskit.

"You can watch from the nursery entrance if you're quiet," Amberberry scolded them, getting to her paws and brushing out of the thorny entrance of the den, past Frostkit, and settling in the snow a few tail-lengths outside.

Redclaw rose to her feet, and her green gaze flickered over her three sleepily-stirring kits before drifting up to meet Frostkit's.

"Frostkit, how long have you been out there? You're going to catch a chill," Redclaw said, furrowing her brow at her.

Frostkit turned and obediently padded into the nursery and over to Redclaw, her head bowed. Redclaw bent her head and gave Frostkit a brisk, affectionate lick across her forehead. Frostkit rumbled a quick purr in response.

"You four can also watch the meeting from the den entrance," Redclaw meowed as Pinekit, Poolkit, and Autumnkit stumbled to their paws. "But, I better not hear one sound out of you."

Redclaw turned and left the den, Poolkit and Pinekit hot on her paws. Pinekit gave Frostkit a disdained sniff as she walked past her. Frostkit gave an annoyed tail twitch at the rude greeting.

"What's happening?" Autumnkit meowed to Frostkit in a quiet voice as he padded to her side.

Together, they walked towards the entrance of the den, and sat down a bit behind Mosskit, Murmurkit, Poolkit and Pinekit.

"ThunderClan's leader Morningstar told everyone that they are really weak during the gathering," Frostkit said quietly. "They think that means WindClan and SkyClan may attack ThunderClan."

"What's that got to do with us?" Poolkit chimed in, wrinkling his nose and twisting to look at Frostkit from over his shoulder.

 _"Shh!"_ Pinekit hissed. "The meeting's starting!"

Frostkit leaned forward to peer out through the nursery entrance. She could just barely see Sedgestar perched on top of the big, snowy boulder through the intertwined tendrils of thorns.

"I have news from the gathering," Sedgestar said. "ThunderClan is starving in their own territory. They asked for the other Clans to give them permission to hunt in the other territories."

Meows of protest rose from the gathered cats. Pinekit wrinkled up her nose.

"Letting ThunderClan hunt on our territory!" she hissed in a hushed voice. "No way!"

Redclaw shot a pointed look with narrowed eyes at Pinekit from over her shoulder, and Pinekit snapped her jaws shut.

"Don't worry; I explained that no such thing would happen," Sedgestar continued, silencing the voices with a wave of his tail. "Still, I think we need to be wary of the ThunderClan border. If they get desperate enough, they may start trespassing. And, we need to stay on the look out for SkyClan and WindClan cats coming from their territory too. Both Rabbitstar and Fennelstar seemed eager to exploit ThunderClan's weakness."

"If ThunderClan is too weak to defend their territory, why don't we also make some of their land our hunting grounds? If WindClan and SkyClan take all of their land, then they could become a threat to us, unless we are strong enough to fight back," Fogfur piped up, bushing up his grey fur.

The fur down Sedgestar's spine bristled.

"ShadowClan is strong enough to stand alone. We don't need more territory to face SkyClan or WindClan," Sedgestar meowed in a firm voice. "We have enough fresh-kill in our woods, and so far, no illness has broken out in camp, although this leaf-bare has been long and harsh."

Fogfur bowed his head, relenting, although Frostkit saw some cats glance side to side, looking at each other, and she felt like not everyone agreed with Sedgestar's decision. Sedgestar's eyes flickered over the crowd, not missing the dissent among his cats.

Sedgestar nodded down at Clearstream.

"Clearstream, if you feel the time is right," Sedgestar said, his voice taking on a tone of respect that he reserved only for Clearstream, his medicine cat, and Emberflower, his mate. "You can share the words StarClan gave to you."

Clearstream rose to her dainty paws, her long, fluffy grey fur billowing around her like a cloud.

"A half moon ago, when I traveled to Moonstone, I was given a vision," Clearstream meowed.

Frostkit's ears pricked with interest as she listened. Redclaw had told her about StarClan, and Moonstone and how it was the medicine cats' job to communicate with StarClan. She still felt the whole thing was sort of bizarre though. May had never told her anything about StarClan. And, her family wasn't from the Clans, so why should Frostkit care about StarClan? It's not like anyone she knew would be there, watching over her. Frostkit's heart tinged.

 _May wouldn't be there. …Would she?_

"I was walking through a forest covered in snow. I seemed to be alone; I could not hear or scent any other cat," Clearstream spoke. "But then a white owl flew over my head and I heard these words: _ShadowClan does not need to fear the snow. Out of the cold, a great strength rises and soars on frozen wings_. Then my pelt was warmed, and suddenly our clan-mates were clustered around me, and we were keeping each other warm with the heat of our fur."

Sedgestar nodded approvingly at her words.

"StarClan tells us that we are strong. We have no need to fear this leaf-bare or any Clan," he said in his deep voice.

Frostkit looked around at the other cats. She was surprised to see how relaxed everyone suddenly was. A few heartbeats ago, their fur was prickling and they looked on edge, shooting nervous glances around like they half expected SkyClan or WindClan warriors to burst through the thorn thicket that surrounded the camp at any moment. But, now cats were purring faintly, sharing reassuring nods with eyes that shone with certainty and pride.

"We will still remain vigilant on the ThunderClan border," Sedgestar added. "But, we will successfully face whatever threat may come. This meeting is dismissed."

Sedgestar bounded down from Clanrock, and the rest of the cats rose to their paws, breaking into groups to talk to each other, or heading out of camp on patrols. Frostkit watched them vanish into the shadows as they walked through the thorn tunnel and under the dark trees that loomed overhead, hunched and ladened with frost and snow, and she shivered, wondering if they really could face anything they came across there.


	4. Chapter 4: Outsider

"I'm going to be the best apprentice ShadowClan has ever seen," Pinekit boasted, her black-furred tail twitching with excitement. "Look what I can do!"

Pinekit crouched down, slinking forward in a hunters crouch, then leaped suddenly onto Poolkit's back.

"Hey!" Poolkit protested, shaking her off.

Pinekit gave a growl, leaping on him again and the two siblings went tumbling across camp.

Frostkit watched them play from a distance, her long fluffy grey tail wrapped neatly around her paws. They were all six moons old now, which meant that they were ready to become apprentices. Frostkit sighed quietly to herself. She didn't feel as excited about the prospect of it as her foster-siblings did, though. Pinekit, Poolkit, and Autumnkit were dying to see the outside of the camp, the forests of ShadowClan's territory, and even the lands beyond. They chatted incessantly like birds about how they heard the oaks of four-trees towered so high, they touched the clouds, and how they hoped to be able to be brought along with Sedgestar or Clearstream on the long, perilous journey to Mothermouth, which contained the Moonstone.

Frostkit, however, did not care to venture beyond the thorny walls of the camp. She didn't want to see the territory, or Fourtrees or Mothermouth. Slowly, she had come to see the camp place as her home—a safe place. She had already seen the forest beyond. She had seen how unforgiving and cruel it was.

Frostkit looked down at her paws. Their grey markings were stained brown with mud, and they sunk slightly into the muddy ground beneath them. New-leaf had reached the forest finally, bringing with it a thaw that touched every tail-length of the camp, making everything wet and damp, although the air was warm and sweet, and smelt of flowers.

"Quiz!" Poolkit meowed suddenly, springing off of Pinekit and to his paws. "Who is the new deputy of ThunderClan?"

Frostkit's ears pricked in interest; she knew the answer.

While ShadowClan made it through the leaf-bare without losing a single cat to hunger or sickness, the other Clans were not so fortunate. The word was that ThunderClan barely scraped by. Frostkit had heard from Weaseltail that they had finally rallied and fought back against WindClan and SkyClan, but not without some losses, both from battle and from weakness. Morningstar himself was rumored to have lost a life, and one of the cats who died was ThunderClan's deputy, Leafstorm.

"Um…" Pinekit meowed, blinking hard as she thought.

"It's Acornear," Autumnkit cut in, padding out of the nursery and over to them.

"Oh yeah! I remember now," Pinekit meowed, giving a snicker. " _Acornear_! Morningstar probably made him deputy because he felt so bad about giving him such a dumb name!"

Poolkit and Autumnkit purred loudly. Frostkit purred quietly along with them, watching their amusement from the distance.

"And, who's the new deputy of SkyClan?" Poolkit meowed, dancing from paw to paw.

Frostkit recalled the conversation she overheard a few moons ago between the warriors about SkyClan's deputy, Robinsong, and how weak she had seemed then. Robinsong had clung to life for a couple more moons, but last gathering, she was gone, and SkyClan had a new deputy.

Pinekit and Autumnkit were silent as they thought. As the moments stretched past, Pinekit rolled her eyes.

"This is so boring, Poolkit, let's go back to battle training," she meowed.

"You're only saying it's boring because you don't know," Poolkit said, whiskers twitching smugly. "We're going to have to know all the deputies and leaders of the other Clans when we're apprentices! So, come on, Robinsong died of green-cough, who's the new deputy?"

"It's Paledusk," Frostkit said quietly.

Her blue eyes widened. She hadn't meant to speak and draw attention to herself; the words had just slipped out.

Pinekit, Poolkit and Autumnkit turned to look at her, and Autumnkit nodded.

"That's right, I remember now, Dad told Mom that," Autumnkit said.

"No one asked you, Dirtface," Pinekit huffed to Frostkit, her tail twitching irritably.

Frostkit growled softly at the cruel nickname. As she grew, the grey fur on her face had too, making a mask that covered her muzzle, eyes and ears. She had caught sight of it on occasion when she saw her reflection in the puddles around camp. Sometimes it made her freeze in shock, for a moment, she thought that she had seen her mother.

Frostkit turned and padded away from them, her head down as she padded back to the nursery.

"Why are you always so mean to her?" Frostkit heard Autumnkit hiss to Pinekit in a hushed voice.

"What?" Pinekit replied, her voice indignant. " _We_ were playing. She wasn't a part of the game!"

"You're just mad that she knew the answer, and you didn't," Autumnkit huffed.

Their squabbling voices faded as Frostkit padded further away. She was headed to her spot just outside the nursery, half-hidden under the thick thorn thicket. She had almost reached it when a pair of silver-striped legs appeared in front of her, seemingly materializing out of thin air. Frostkit jerked her head up in surprise, and the grey dappled-tabby cat attached to the legs sprung out of her way.

"Watch where you're going, rogue!" Swoopstrike hissed, his silver tail lashing.

"... Sorry!" Frostkit managed to squeak, but the warrior had already stalked off with a huff, leaving Frostkit to wonder if he had even heard her.

Frostkit quickly took her last few trembling steps that took her into the shelter of the nursery. Safely tucked under the thorn bush, she the bent her head to give her white chest a few comforting licks, trying to flatten her bristling fur.

"Don't let them bother you," a nearby voice said.

Frostkit jumped in surprise at the words, and she turned to see Snakeeyes emerge from the nursery's entrance and pad over to her. The white she-cat's paw-steps were slow; her belly was swollen with kits. She had moved to the nursery just a little while ago because she was so close to her kitting time. Frostkit studied Snakeeyes hesitantly as she approached.

The she-cat had never been cruel to her, but she never showed much interest in her either. As far as Frostkit could tell, Snakeeyes mostly kept to herself, which made Frostkit confused as to why she was bothering to talk to her now.

"When I was your age, the other cats would make fun of me too," Snakeeyes continued, sitting down next to Frostkit. "For the way my eyes look."

Snakeeyes blinked at Frostkit, emphasizing the startling difference between her brilliant blue eye and her deep green one.

"I'm different, like you are," she said.

Frostkit felt the stirrings of warmth in her chest at the comradery of her words.

" _Never_ forget that you're different," Snakeeyes emphasized, and Frostkit's brow furrowed as she swallowed, feeling her heart drop at the sudden change in conversation.

Frostkit looked down at her grey paws.

"… Because _they_ will never let you forget that you're different," Snakeeyes said, nodding towards the cats out in the camp and Frostkit's foster siblings.

Frostkit's brow furrowed with confusion, and her gaze was slowly drawn back up to Snakeeye's.

"They will always see you as an outsider. They will be reminded that you are one just from the way you look," Snakeeyes meowed. "You will have to fight twice as hard, hunt twice as much, run twice as far as them to prove yourself."

Frostkit blinked hard, feeling the ground slightly sway under her at that thought.

 _That's too much._

"But, you can do it," Snakeeyes said, her voice firm. "Make your difference your strength. Shroud yourself in it. Use it to drive you. If you do that, then they can never use it to hurt you again."

The warrior looked kindly down at the kit.

"I asked Sedgestar to give me my warrior name 'Snakeeyes.' So, everyone will be reminded of how I look just by saying my name," she said. "When I was young, I thought the way I looked was a defect. But, I'm not ashamed of it anymore. So, no one can hurt me with it."

Snakeeyes looked away from Frostkit to stare out into camp, her mismatched gaze falling on Rowanheart.

"My eyes are no longer a curse for me. Rowanheart thinks my eyes are beautiful," Snakeeyes said softly, her eyes filling with love as she curled her tail around her belly.

She glanced back over at Frostkit.

"And, your pelt is beautiful too," she said.

"Thank…Thank you," Frostkit managed to stutter, blinking hard as she gazed up at Snakeeyes. "That's very wise…"

Snakeeyes let out a soft purr, then she cleared her throat.

"So, just don't let them get you down, kit," she said, a bit more gruffly, bending her head to nose Frostkit off.

Frostkit padded away from her, heading back into camp.

As she padded away, Frostkit felt herself wishing that Snakeeyes could be her mentor, but she knew that she would be in the nursery with her kits during all of Frostkit's training. Frostkit sighed heavily to herself, her paws slowing as she approached the center of camp. It was mid-morning and ShadowClan was buzzing with activity. The fresh-kill pile was high, packed with frogs and lizards lured out by the warm weather. Frostkit wrinkled her nose slightly when she gazed at them. Although she didn't mind the taste once she got through the scaly skin, she preferred her prey to be furred. Frostkit's gaze flickered up from the fresh-kill pile to scan over the warriors that were in camp. Her eyes flickered over the pelts that were now so familiar to her, after spending all these moons in camp.

"Are you wondering who's going to be your mentor?"

Frostkit jumped, startled at the voice from behind her.

She turned to see Autumnkit padding over, and she let out a sigh.

"You scared me, Autumnkit," she said.

His whiskers twitched in amusement.

"Then try being less jumpy next time," he teased, taking a seat next to Frostkit, seemingly not worried about the muddy ground that splashed all up his dark ginger haunches when he did so.

Autumnkit nodded towards the warriors out in camp.

"I hope I get Darkpelt," Autumnkit said wistfully. "Did you know he once chased off a trespassing WindClan patrol single-pawed? Or, it would be so cool if Thornheart was my mentor; he's like crazy strong and a great fighter. Oh! Or, what about Sedgestar! Do you think he'll want to take on an apprentice?"

"You really want to be the leader's apprentice?" Frostkit asked quietly, her ears pricking in surprise.

Autumnkit looked over at her with wide eyes.

"Well, of course!" he gasped. " Sedgestar is the bravest, strongest cat in all of the Forest! Why wouldn't I want him to be my mentor?"

Frostkit shrugged.

"It just seems like a lot of pressure to me," she said. "Having to always impress the leader. I wouldn't want Sedgestar to be my mentor."

Autumnkit snorted.

"You're weird Frostkit," Autumnkit said, but there was no venom in his voice, like there would've been in Pinekit's if she had said that. "Then who do you want to be your mentor?"

Frostkit was silent for a moment as she thought, gazing out at the warriors in camp.

"Rowanheart," Frostkit said finally, recalling her conversation with Snakeeyes.

 _If Rowanheart can accept Snakeeyes, then he might be able to accept me too._

"Why Rowanheart?" Autumnkit asked, his brow furrowed.

Frostkit hesitated, not sure if she wanted to confess the reason why and explain her whole personal conversation with Snakeeyes to Autumnkit.

"…Ugh it's not because you think he's handsome, is it?" Autumnkit asked, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "I've heard she-cats mooning over him. Leafbreeze especially seems to think he's StarClan's gift to ShadowClan!"

Frostkit's fur fluffed out defensively.

"What? No! That's not why!" Frostkit exclaimed. "Don't be ridiculous. And, who cares if other cats think he's handsome; he's Snakeeye's mate. They're having kits together!"

Autumnkit didn't look entirely convinced by Frostkit's defense, but before he could say anything else, Frostkit spotted Sedgestar emerge from his den in the tangled roots of the old Oak Tree, and bound up the boulder that leaned out over the camp clearing. Sedgestar took a moment to shake the mud from his paws from his perch before raising his chin.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath Clanrock for a clan meeting!"

"This must be it!" Autumnkit purred excitedly to Frostkit, his eyes sparkling.

Frostkit didn't echo his excitement. Instead, she felt her stomach flip in unease, but she followed Autumnkit as he bounded into the center of the camp. Warriors padded over from around camp, some appearing out of the den, evidently they had been sleeping in this morning. Autumnkit took a seat very close to Clanrock, and Frostkit settled down next to him. The warriors brushed past Frostkit and Autumnkit, coming to gather at the sound of their leader's cry. Frostkit eyed them from the corner of her gaze.

 _Which one of them will be my mentor?_

Frostkit's gaze caught Rowanheart's. He was seated next to his mother, Emberflower, and their two nearly identical ginger pelts intermingled. Rowanheart gave Frostkit a friendly nod, and she felt her paws twitch with not quite excitement, but it wasn't anxiety either as she quickly glanced away from him.

 _Maybe Rowanheart will be my mentor after all._

"It's happening!" Poolkit gasped, barreling over to take a seat at Autumnkit's other side.

His amber eyes gleamed wildly in his black and white furred face, and he seemed hardly able to sit still.

"I wonder if Sedgestar will make Frostkit an apprentice with us, or will he decide to not bother training a rogue?" Pinekit meowed hauntingly, padding over and taking a seat next to Poolkit.

Frostkit felt a sting at her words, but it was only slight—she had expected some sort of comment from Pinekit.

"Watch your tongue young she-cat!" Redclaw snapped from behind, making all four of the kits start in fear. "Or, I will tell Sedgestar _you_ are unfit to be an apprentice yet."

Frostkit turned to watch her foster-mother approach them. Pinekit ducked her head in at Redclaw's reproach.

 _"Moooom,"_ Pinekit whined. "You can't do that! I'm six-moons old, that means I get to be an apprentice!"

"Frostkit is a ShadowClan cat," Redclaw said, glowering down at her daughter. "And, she's as much mine now as you are, and I won't have my kits turned against each other!"

"But, Damppaw says…" Pinekit weakly protested.

"Oh, Damppaw!" Redclaw meowed. "Is he the one filling your head with nonsense?! He must be getting it from his mentor Marshnose, but if I have a word with Larkfoot, I'm sure she would be happy to straighten Damppaw out!"

 _"Mom!"_ Pinekit huffed.

But, before she could say anything else, Sedgestar began to speak and quiet fell across the whole camp.

"New-leaf is here!" Sedgestar yowled, his voice ringing triumphantly through the camp. "As Clearstream's vision showed us, ShadowClan not only survived the long, cold leaf-bare, but we've grown stronger because of it!"

Frostkit's ears pricked as the cat's around her began to yowl excitedly, their eyes bright, claws flexing excitedly into the muddy ground. Sedgestar paused, the look on his face pleased as he allowed his clan-mates to shout their victory into the sky. After a few heartbeats of indulgence, Sedgestar raised his tail, and quiet settled over the camp again.

"ShadowClan is the strongest clan in the forest!" Sedgestar declared. "No other can compete with us in our strength or size. And, we continue to grow. Today, I am proud to announce the making of four new apprentices!"

There was more cheering at this, but Frostkit's pelt prickled as she realized she was getting some sideways looks. As expected, not everyone was thrilled with her becoming an apprentice. Frostkit took note of the cats that looked the most displeased with the notion.

 _Marshnose, Damppaw, Swoopstrike, Flymask…_

Frostkit decided that she would do her best to avoid the four of them during her apprenticeship.

"Poolkit, Pinekit, Autumnkit, and Frostkit, would you please step forward?" Sedgestar meowed.

"Be good," Redclaw hissed from behind them, and although she shot Pinekit a stern look, the red and black she-cat looked proud as her kits stood and strode over to stand in the shadow of Clanrock.

Sedgestar cleared his throat.

"You four have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior names, you will be known as Poolpaw, Pinepaw, Autumnpaw, and Frostpaw," Sedgestar said.

Frostpaw took a deep breath.

 _Here we go…_

"Poolpaw, your mentor will be Fogfur. I hope Fogfur will pass down all he knows on to you."

Frostpaw's brow furrowed as she tried to recall what she knew about this warrior. Besides that he seemed stern and serious, Frostpaw couldn't think much more about what he was like. She turned her head to watch Fogfur pad over to them. His long grey fur stirred in the breeze like a rippling cloud, and his green eyes looked steady and pleased as he stood in front of his new apprentice.

"Fogfur, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Treefur, and you have shown yourself to be driven and fiercely brave. You will be the mentor of Poolpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him."

Frostpaw watched Fogfur dip his head so he and Poolpaw could touch noses, then they stepped aside.

"Pinepaw," Sedgestar said, continuing the ceremony without delay. "Your mentor will be Grovepelt. I hope Grovepelt will pass down all he knows on to you."

Frostpaw's eyes widened in surprise as Sedgestar named his deputy to mentor Pinepaw. Grovepelt rose to his paws from the base of Clanrock and padded over to Pinepaw.

"Grovepelt, you are ready to take on a new apprentice. You trained me excellently as my mentor, and you have served your clan faithfully for many moons now as deputy. You will be the mentor of Pinepaw, and I know you will pass on all you know to her," Sedgestar said.

Grovepelt touched his greying muzzle to Pinepaw's and the two stepped aside.

"I didn't know Grovepelt was Sedgestar's mentor!" Autumnpaw whispered to Frostpaw, shooting his sister and her new mentor a jealous look.

"Autumnpaw," Sedgestar said, pulling Autumnpaw's and Frostpaw's attention back to him. "Your mentor will be Beeclaw. I hope Beeclaw will pass down all he knows on to you."

Autumnpaw's face gave nothing away as the young black-furred warrior padded over to him.

 _Although I know he was wishing for Darkpelt or Thornheart instead…_ Frostpaw thought

"Beeclaw, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Emberflower, and you have shown yourself to be loyal and clever. You will be the mentor of Autumnpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him."

Beeclaw and Autumnpaw touched noses, and the two of them stepped aside. Frostpaw was relieved to see that Autumnpaw looked pleased with his mentor, even though she knew Beeclaw was not his first choice.

"Frostpaw."

Frostpaw felt a chill run up her spine as Sedgestar called her new name. She slowly raised her eyes from Autumnpaw and up to ShadowClan's leader. Sedgestar looked down at her from the top of Clanrock, his face unreadable. Frostpaw searched his amber eyes for a hint of his thoughts.

 _Does he agree with some of the others and not want me apprenticed? But, he let me and May into ShadowClan… that means he must want me here, right?_

"Your mentor will be Swoopstrike. I hope Swoopstrike will pass down all he knows on to you," Sedgestar said.

Frostpaw felt like her paws were frozen to the ground as the name he said echoed in her ears.

 _No… I couldn't have heard him right._

But, there the dappled silver tabby was, striding over to Frostpaw. Swoopstrike's narrowed green eyes met Frostpaw's, and he didn't look pleased as he towered in front of her, waiting for Sedgestar to complete the ceremony.

"Swoopstrike, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Weaseltail, and you have shown yourself to be a skilled fighter and loyal warrior. You will be the mentor of Frostpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her," Sedgestar said.

Swoopstrike shoved his face towards Frostpaw's. She had to resist the urge to flinch back as he brusquely touched his muzzle to hers, before quickly recoiling so they had to touch for only the shortest amount of time as possible.

"Poolpaw! Pinepaw! Autumnpaw! Frostpaw!"

The clan was chanting their names, but Frostpaw hardly heard them. She was too busy staring at Sedgestar's brown striped back as he bounded down from Clanrock.

 _How could he do this?_

Frostpaw blinked hard. He had to have known that Swoopstrike hated her. Yet, Sedgestar made him her mentor! How was she supposed to survive her training with Swoopstrike hissing at her every other moment?

Frostpaw struggled to take a deep breath, searching for a scrap of calm inside of her. She tried to recall Snakeeye's words from earlier.

 _"Make your difference your strength. Shroud yourself in it. Use it to drive you. If you do that, then they can never use it to hurt you again."_

Frostpaw shook her head to herself; Snakeeye's words rung hollowly in her head.

 _But, how will I be able to prove myself with Swoopstrike as my mentor?_

"Hey, are you okay?" Autumnpaw asked, snapping Frostpaw out of her thoughts.

He had padded over to her as the four of them lingered in the camp. They just had a few moments before they would be swept off to their first apprentice duties. Frostpaw just sighed, giving a shrug. Autumnpaw peered at her concernedly.

"Congratulations all of you," Weaseltail's voice rumbled as he padded over to his kits.

Noticing the bleak look on Frostpaw's face, he turned to her.

"Swoopstrike can be intense. He was even as my apprentice, but he's a good warrior, and he will be a good mentor," Weaseltail meowed.

"I don't understand why I got stuck with Grovepelt!" Pinepaw complained, but not loud enough to be overheard by anyone outside Frostpaw and her family. "He's practically as old as dirt!"

"Don't be rude to your deputy!" Weaseltail snapped at his daughter.

"What concerns me is why Sedgestar gave Frostpaw Swoopstrike to be her mentor," Redclaw interjected, her amber eyes narrowed. "He's been nothing but cruel to her."

"I'm sure Sedgestar has his reasons," Weaseltail meowed, carefully watching his hot-tempered mate out of the corner of his eye.

Redclaw's tail was twitching, and she had her jaw set in a mutinous way that Weaseltail was all too familiar with.

"Why don't we go out for a tour of the territory?" Beeclaw asked, padding over to Autumnpaw, utterly unaware of the tension in the air surrounding the family.

"…Okay," Autumnpaw meowed after a moments hesitation.

"Can we go too?!" Poolpaw said excitedly, shooting a glance at Fogfur as he padded over.

Fogfur shrugged.

"Sure why not?" he meowed.

"We will also join you," Grovepelt meowed, going to stand next to Pinepaw.

The three mentors turned almost unconsciously it seemed to Frostpaw.

She shifted from foot to foot under their gaze, well aware that Swoopstrike seemed to have vanished, and she did not know what she would be doing. Frostpaw almost sighed in relief as he appeared, emerging from the tunnel at the base of the Oak Tree, which led down to Sedgestar's den.

"What's going on?" Swoopstrike said in a gruff voice as he noticed the mentors circled around Frostpaw.

"We were just about to take our apprentices on a tour of the territory," Grovepelt meowed. "Would you like to join us?"

Swoopstrike scowled slightly.

"I was thinking collecting moss would be a good first duty for an apprentice," he said.

Beeclaw wrinkled his nose and shot Frostpaw a sympathetic glance. Fogfur shrugged and turned towards the camp entrance, but the deputy was not so easily cowed.

"Come on, Swoopstrike," Grovepelt said. "Come with us. These kits haven't even set foot outside camp yet. It's good for apprentices to get a tour on their first day, or else you'll find that they'll end up terribly lost the first couple times they go hunting."

Swoopstrike grumbled something under his breath that Frostpaw couldn't catch.

"Fine," he sighed after a moment.

Grovepelt's whiskers twitched contentedly.

"Good," he meowed. "Let's get going then."

Grovepelt led the way to the thorn tunnel at the edge of the camp. Pinepaw followed him with Poolpaw at her side. Fogfur was behind them, and at his tail was Beeclaw and Autumnpaw, the two of them already engaged in conversation. Swoopstrike padded off to follow them, but Frostpaw hung back, her paws dragging on the ground.

Her heart filled with trepidation as she slowly drew closer to the looming thorn barrier, and the dark tunnel that pierced through it.

"Hurry up," Swoopstrike snapped impatiently at Frostpaw from the tunnel, noticing her tail-lengths behind him.

Frostpaw jumped at his words, her nervous blue gaze widening. After a heartbeat of hesitation, she rushed forward. At the entrance of the tunnel, she paused, the pounding of her blood so loud in her ears that it drowned out all other noise. She gazed into the darkness of the tunnel, feeling the blackness open a hole that yawned back at her in her chest. Shuddering, Frostpaw threw herself into the shadows.

XXXX

"Sedgestar?" Redclaw called from the entrance to his den.

"Come in, Redclaw," Sedgestar said, his deep voice echoing up from the tunnel in the roots.

Redclaw padded inside the tunnel, her tail twitching. She entered into the dim earthen cave. Sedgestar sat up in his nest. Emberflower remained curled up by his side, but she blinked her green gaze up at Redclaw.

"What can I do for you, Redclaw?" Sedgestar asked.

Redclaw exhaled slowly.

"It's about Frostpaw and Swoopstrike," she said.

Sedgestar sighed.

"I thought you'd have something to say about that..." he said.

"I just don't understand," Redclaw cut in. "Swoopstrike hates her with every hair on his pelt! Any cat with two eyes can see it! Why would you assign him as her mentor?"

"Swoopstrike knows the truth of her parentage," Sedgestar said. "I need her to be watched by a warrior that is aware that she is half-SkyClan in case her father ever tries to reach out to her."

"But, then there are other plenty of cats that you could've chosen to train her!" Redclaw protested. "Emberflower, Grovepelt, Beeclaw, or me! Any of us would've been better than Swoopstrike."

"I had already decided Grovepelt and Beeclaw would mentor two of your other kits. And, I couldn't have given her to you," Sedgestar said. "You know that parents don't train their kits."

"Oh, so now you're treating her like a regular ShadowClan kit," Redclaw huffed. "What other apprentices need to be 'watched' by their mentors?"

Sedgestar narrowed his amber gaze at Redclaw. Redclaw glanced away from her leader, her fur prickling under the strength of his powerful gaze.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, Sedgestar," Redclaw said. "It's just that she is such a quiet, sensitive kit. Swoopstrike—"

"That's exactly why I chose him and not any of the other cats you named," Sedgestar said, interrupting her.

"What?" Redclaw said, blinking in confusion.

"Frostpaw needs to be strong and tough if she is to survive in this Clan," Sedgestar said. "There will always be cats like Swoopstrike who hate her for being an outsider. If she cannot preserve and train successfully with him as her mentor, then she is not fit to be a ShadowClan warrior. It follows the same logic as the other pairings I made with your kits. I gave Pinepaw to Grovepelt to learn patience. And, Autumnpaw to Beeclaw to learn calm."

Redclaw curled her lip up at Sedgestar.

"No. You are making things needlessly difficult for Frostpaw," Redclaw protested. "She's been in ShadowClan practically her whole life. Will you ever stop blaming her for being born outside of ShadowClan; something that was completely out of her control?"

"I'm not blaming her for not being born in ShadowClan," Sedgestar snapped, rising to his paws, and causing Redclaw to cower slightly. "The reason we have apprentices is to train young cats to be warriors. Warriors are the life-blood of the Clan. They must be loyal to ShadowClan above all other things. So, besides just learning hunting and fighting, apprentices must learn _to be loyal_. Yes, for cats that are ShadowClan born, it's easier since they already have their family here—roots that spread back generation after generation in ShadowClan. But, that doesn't mean that it's impossible for a cat like Frostpaw to prove her loyalty, it will just be more difficult."

Redclaw's tail twitched, but she was silent.

"Once Frostpaw completes her training with Swoopstrike and learns loyalty and the warrior code, just like all of the other apprentices, she shall have my full trust as any ShadowClan warrior does," Sedgestar said.

He flicked his tail at Redclaw.

"You are dismissed," he said coolly.


	5. Chapter 5: Fight Twice As Hard

Frostpaw's heart hammered in her throat as she sprinted along after the rest of her patrol. Her legs burned as she moved them faster than she ever had before, struggling to keep up with the other cats. Swoopstrike was in the lead, and despite his earlier complaints about the patrol, he now seemed enthusiastic for them to travel through the territory at a break-neck speed. A forest of seemingly endless dark pine trees flashed around Frostpaw, but she didn't have the time to take in their thin, towering silhouettes— she was too focused on keeping her paws moving one after the other at the frantic pace.

Grovepelt was the one to finally slow, slacking his pace and clearing his throat to signal for the others to as well. Frostpaw almost stumbled in relief as she eagerly slowed her paws. Her foster siblings seemed to echo her relief as they too fell back with her with quiet sighs. Swoopstrike, however, only dropped his pace reluctantly, shooting Grovepelt a look from narrowed eyes.

Grovepelt caught his gaze and narrowed his eyes in return at the younger warrior.

"We are giving a tour of the territory remember Swoopstrike? Not just running through it," Grovepelt meowed cooly.

Swoopstrike dipped his head stiffly to the deputy without saying anything, but Frostpaw noticed his jaw clenching.

After Frostpaw managed to catch her breath, she lifted her head to finally have a chance to gaze around at her surroundings. Towering pines framed the world around her. Frostpaw tilted her head back as she traced their trunks towards the sky, watching their branches and thin dark green leaves bristle up at the clouds. The ground beneath them was coated with the pines' discarded needles, which softened the sound of the cat's footfalls, making it seem like their patrol was gliding soundlessly through the forest.

Frostpaw's eyes were wide with surprise as she looked around. She couldn't believe how the forest had transformed during the few moons that she'd been at the ShadowClan camp. The forest she remembered was a world of white. Everything had been coated in snow, and the pines had been frozen in ice, like jagged milky white claws. Even the sky had been grey with snow clouds. Now the world was colored in shades of green and brown and black, and the shimmer of a bright blue sky peeked down in the gaps between the pine's branches.

"Come along," Grovepelt said to the four gaping apprentices, padding along.

Frostpaw jerked and did a little dash to catch up to the deputy. Even though there was little undergrowth to hide behind, Grovepelt's brown pelt still quickly vanished into the deep shadows cast by the pines.

Frostpaw's foster siblings quickly caught up too, and Autumnpaw moved to pad along side her.

"Isn't this great!" he said to Frostpaw with a pleased purr.

Frostpaw nodded. She had to admit, she was enjoying the forest way more that she thought she would. The smell of the fresh air in her nose, the soft pine needles under her paws instead of the muddy ground of the camp, the warm sunshine on her back…

 _"What is that?"_ Pinepaw gasped, snapping Frostpaw out of her thoughts.

The patrol had suddenly reached what seemed to be a gap in the forest. The pine tree line stopped abruptly, and in front of them was a small stretch of grass for several fox lengths, then a strange strip of what seemed to Frostpaw to be a long black stone which stretched as far as the eye could see left and right, then another stretch of grass, and then suddenly trees sprung up again like there had been no interruption.

Poolpaw started to creep forward across the grass, his eyes locked on the curious black stone.

"Stay under the trees," Fogfur snapped at him.

Poolpaw jumped in surprise at his mentor's harsh tone and scrambled back to the trees and the rest of the patrol.

"This is the thunderpath," Grovepelt explained. "Monsters travel on it, so you always have to be careful not to get too close."

"It doesn't look that dangerous," Pinepaw sniffed.

But, she had to almost immediately eat her words as suddenly a roaring sound filled the air. The ground rumbled under Frostpaw's feet as something huge went hurdling down the thunderpath and past the patrol. There was a wave of foul smelling air, a flash of metallic color, and then it was gone, only a fading echo of a rumble remained to show that anything had past at all.

Frostpaw's fur had brushed out and she looked over at her foster siblings. She was relieved to see that she was not the only one frightened of the monster; they all looked as unsettled as she did, with bristling fur and wide eyes. Frostpaw glanced over at the warriors. They were unruffled, but all of them except for Swoopstrike looked at the apprentices sympathetically.

"You get more used to them," Beeclaw meowed.

"What can you all scent?" Grovepelt asked, continuing on with a lesson like nothing had happened.

"You mean besides the monster?" Autumnpaw said drily.

But, then all four of the apprentices fell silent as they scented the air. Frostpaw's brow furrowed as she tried to extract useful scents from the metallic tang that the monster had left hanging in the air.

"Wait… it smells strongly like ShadowClan!" Pinepaw meowed.

Frostpaw blinked in surprise, realizing that Pinepaw was right. Frostpaw was so used to the deep, rich ShadowClan scent from being surrounded by ShadowClan cats all the time, she had almost completely missed the fact that the scent again wreathed around her here, almost as strongly as if they were in camp.

Grovepelt nodded.

"We are standing by our scent-markers. They mark the border of our territory," he said.

Poolpaw inhaled deeply, and Frostpaw saw Pinepaw stifle a snicker at Poolpaw's gaping face.

"There is some faint other cat scent too!" Poolpaw declared.

Frostpaw sniffed carefully. The breeze had shifted and now scents were drifting over to them from the other side of the thunderpath. The wind carried the scent of the other cats, but the smell of them was unfamiliar to Frostpaw. Their scent was mustier than ShadowClan's sharp strong scent, with an edge of nuttiness, not unlike that of a squirrel.

"That's ThunderClan scent," Fogfur rumbled.

"They smell weird," Autumnpaw said, wrinkling up his nose.

"Their territory begins on the other side of the thunderpath," Grovepelt said, nodding at the trees beyond.

Frostpaw studied the trees, realizing that they looked a bit different from the forest on the ShadowClan side. The ThunderClan forest still had a couple of pine trees mixed in here or there, but Frostpaw noticed that the deeper into their territory that she gazed, further away from the thunderpath, the less pine trees there were, and instead there were more leafy ones.

"When I was a kit," Grovepelt meowed. "There was no thunderpath here, and ThunderClan's territory came right up to ours. But, then the two-legs came and created this thunderpath during my apprenticeship, splitting the two Clans' territories."

Frostpaw's eyes went wide. It was hard to imagine that the large, strange black stone of the thunderpath had not always been there. And, that it was actually so recent, it hadn't existed during the deputy's lifetime.

"I think the two-legs did us a favor," Swoopstrike growled. "At least the thunderpath keeps those mice-munchers over on their side, where they belong."

"The construction of it scared away prey for a season though," Grovepelt mused. "It was new-leaf, when the forest should have been bustling with prey emerging after the thaw, but all the creatures were scared off by the two-legs' racket. That was a hard season for ShadowClan, particularly coming right after a long leaf-bare, not unlike the one we just saw…"

Then Grovepelt shook himself, like he was trying to dislodge the clinging cobwebs of old memories.

"Nevermind that," he meowed. "That was a long time ago now. Beeclaw, re-mark the scent-markings here, and lets keep going."

Grovepelt turned to look down at the apprentices and his old, wise eyes' sparkled a bit mischievously.

"I have a ShadowClan secret to show you four," he meowed. "But, you have to swear to not tell another cat from any of the other four Clans! I know apprentices like to brag at Gatherings, but this is one secret you _must not_ tell."

"I promise!" Pinepaw meowed, her amber eyes alight with eager delight to hear whatever the secret was.

 _"Me too!"_ Autumnpaw and Poolpaw chorused almost simultaneously.

Grovepelt's gaze flickered to Frostpaw's, waiting for her response.

"I—I promise," Frostpaw stammered quickly, feeling her fur flush with embarrassment.

 _Oh mousedung, why did I hesitate? Will the deputy not believe me now?_ Frostpaw worried.

Luckily, Grovepelt either didn't notice or didn't seem bothered by Frostpaw's stuttering. He flicked his tail at the apprentices.

"Follow me," he meowed.

"Er—" Swoopstrike suddenly cut in, padding up to the deputy. "Are you sure showing them it now is such a good idea? Maybe we should wait a little while longer?"

"It's tradition that ShadowClan apprentices are told when they first start training," Grovepelt replied in a calm voice.

Swoopstrike's gaze flickered to Frostpaw for only a fraction of a heartbeat before he looked back at Grovepelt.

"I just think it might be a good idea to wait," Swoopstrike said, his voice becoming firmer. "Just so we know they can be trusted."

Frostpaw felt a hole of blackness opening up inside of her.

 _He's worried about me. Swoopstrike doesn't trust me._

She heard Pinepaw give a disdainful sniff, and Frostpaw ducked her head, feeling her stomach swirl with dozens of emotions—embarrassment, shame and a bit of anger that Swoopstrike thought she would betray the only home she had.

"Thank you for your opinion, Swoopstrike," Grovepelt said with the faintest hint of sarcasm in his voice. "But, we've trusted more talkative apprentices than these four in the past. I see no reason not to tell them."

Swoopstrike stiffly bowed his head, but Frostpaw could see he wasn't happy about Grovepelt's decision.

Grovepelt turned, and continued forward, walking parallel to the thunderpath under the tree line. The rest of the patrol followed him one by one in a line.

"Here," Grovepelt meowed, ducking behind some bushes.

The apprentices followed him around the bush, but then Frostpaw almost ran smack into Poolpaw's hindquarters when he came to a sudden stop in front of her.

"Where did he go?" Poolpaw gasped.

Frostpaw wrenched her neck to peer around Poolpaw's flank, and she blinked in surprise to see that he was right. The deputy was nowhere to be seen. He appeared to have just vanished out of thin air.

"Over here!" Frostpaw heard Grovepelt meow.

Following the sound of his voice, the apprentices stuck their heads into a patch of nearby ferns.

"Woah!" Autumnpaw said.

Grovepelt's green eyes blinked up at them from a small tunnel, the entrance hidden by the dense thicket of ferns.

"This tunnel leads under the thunderpath," Grovepelt explained from below them. "And, it splits to head into both ThunderClan and WindClan territory. We usually go through it on the way to gatherings too, so we don't have to cross over the thunderpath to get to Four-trees."

Pinepaw flexed her claws in and out eagerly.

"That's so cool! We can get on to other Clans' territory without them even knowing!" she said, her voice vibrating with excitement.

"Do ThunderClan and WindClan know about this?" Autumnpaw asked.

"Not that we know of," Beeclaw replied. "That's why it's important this information stays within ShadowClan only."

Grovepelt hopped back out of the tunnel.

"That's right," he meowed, nodding in agreement with Beeclaw.

"Can we explore in the tunnel?" Poolpaw asked, his tail-tip twitching in excitement.

"I don't think ThunderClan or WindClan would appreciate four ShadowClan apprentices gallivanting around on their territory," Fogfur meowed drily, with a faint purr.

"The tunnel is only used during gatherings or if Sedgestar gives us explicit permission to do so," Grovepelt added in a firm voice.

"Like during battles?" Pinepaw asked, her black fur bristling in excitement and maybe a bit of nervousness.

"Yes," Grovepelt meowed.

The apprentices exchanged wide-eyed looks. Frostpaw was the first to look away, her stomach flipping.

 _How am I supposed to fight warriors from other Clans?_ she thought nervously. She felt like she could barely fight a ball of moss, let alone a full sized, battle-trained warrior.

"Lets continue the tour of the territory," Grovepelt said, waving his tail to indicate for everyone to follow him.

The patrol padded off again, at a manageable trot this time, which Frostpaw's legs were grateful for. They turned away from the thunderpath, vanishing under the pines, and Frostpaw let out a quiet sigh as the stinging scent of the thunderpath faded behind them.

The group trekked through the forest in silence for a while. As they walked, Frostpaw began to wonder how the warriors knew where they were going. To her, all the dark pines seemed to look the same.

"Woah! Look at that!" Poolpaw gasped.

The patrol had padded into a small clearing in the forest. In the center of the clearing was an old, dead tree, but it still stood upright, like a withered ghost of what it must have been when it was alive. It was massive, with a twisted trunk, scorched black by some long-ago fire, and only some stubbed, gnarled branches at its crown—the rest of the branches evidently worn away by time or eaten by the fire that killed it. There was no other vegetation in the ring surrounding the tree, besides ferns and moss that made the ground spongy and cool under Frostpaw's pads.

 _I wonder if the fire that killed the tree destroyed all the trees around it too, and they haven't grown back yet…_

"This is the Burnt Sycamore," Grovepelt said.

"You'll all be very familiar with it soon," Beeclaw meowed. "Most of your battle training will be done in the clearing here."

"Cool!" Poolpaw yowled, dashing forward to scramble up one of the twisted roots, his black and white fur bristling with excitement.

He started to scale the side of the tree.

"Stop dashing over to every new thing you see and get back over here," Swoopstrike snapped, scraping his claws against the ground. "Stop acting like a little kit. You are ShadowClan apprentice now, have some dignity!"

 _At least it seems like Swoopstrike is grumpy with everyone… it's not just me._ Frostpaw thought.

Still, Frostpaw felt her stomach twist in sympathy for Poolpaw as he scrambled back over to the ShadowClan patrol, his head bowed in embarrassment.

"We've still got a lot of ground to cover," Grovepelt meowed. "Come on."

The patrol padded off again. Frostpaw's legs were starting to get tired from all the walking, but she didn't dare slacken her pace. Not with Swoopstrike only a few tail-lengths away, watching her like a hawk.

The patrol passed over a small stream, stopping only a moment to lap at the cold water before continuing their trek.

They walked for so long, Frostpaw was sure that they must have padded through the whole forest. Then, she was startled to realized that she was right. The trees around them began to thin, then they suddenly stopped, and nothing but rolling golden fields stretched out in front of her. Frostpaw sniffed the air, she could smell the strong markers of ShadowClan scent again, but also the scents of different cats. Unlike the musty, nutty ThunderClan scent, this one was more sour with an edge that smelt of rabbits. Or, was the scent of rabbits just drifting over to Frostpaw on the breeze?

"This must be WindClan territory?" Autumnpaw asked.

"Yes," Beeclaw replied with a nod.

Frostpaw gazed out at the expanse of fields before her and gave a small shiver. Just looking out there made her feel so exposed. There was no where to hide on the empty moor.

"Why would a cat what to live somewhere with no trees?" Frostpaw muttered, half to herself.

"That's because WindClan cats don't think like normal cats. Their heads are filled with cotton," Swoopstrike said with a disdainful sniff.

Frostpaw looked over at Swoopstrike in surprise, caught off guard by the fact that the warrior had managed to say something to her without growling it out through clenched fangs.

Swoopstrike's gaze met Frostpaw's, and he seemed to suddenly remember who it was he was talking to. Swoopstrike's ears flattened, and he looked away from her.

"Have the apprentices seen enough?" Swoopstrike snapped to Grovepelt. "We've been up and down and across the territory all day, and my stomach is yowling with hunger."

Grovepelt rolled his eyes.

"By StarClan, Swoopstrike, you've been complaining more than an apprentice all day," Grovepelt said.

Swoopstrike muttered something under his breath about not even wanting to go on this patrol in the first place. Grovepelt continued, ignoring him.

"The sun is heading down, so we will head back to camp, although I wanted to stop by the carrion-place first," Grovepelt said.

"It's on the way back, so I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem for you, right Swoopstrike?" Grovepelt added with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

"Fine," Swoopstrike said in an audible voice this time.

Grovepelt turned and with a wave of his tail padded back into the trees, the rest of the patrol following him.

The sun was dipping towards the tops of the trees and their shadows were stretching long behind them by the time the group made it to the carrion-place. As they walked, the ground had grown more marshy, and Frostpaw's nose wrinkled as she felt her paws squelching in the mud. Like the thunderpath, Frostpaw could smell the carrion-place before she could see it. It reeked in a different way than the thunderpath did. While the thunderpath smelt sour and metallic, the carrion-place smelt rotten. As they padded out of the trees, Frostpaw's eyes widened at the strange sight before her. There was a small stretch of marshy grass between the trees and a tall web of a woven silver material in front of the patrol that stretched to the left and to the right.

As Frostpaw followed the web with her eyes, she could see that it encircled the entire carrion-place. It looked like to get in, the cats would have to either climb over it or dig their way under. The carrion-place itself was filled with piles of strange things. Some looked unnatural. They were shiny and metallic like the web or the pelt of the monster that they saw earlier. Other things Frostpaw could spot looked like rotting plants or rotting meat. But, mixed in with the rotting, there was a hint of a scent of good meat, a pervasive reek of rat, and a breeze of two-legs.

"There are so many things and weird scents. What is this place?" Autumnpaw meowed in confusion, echoing Frostpaw's thoughts.

"Two-legs come here every so often to leave things that they don't want in those piles," Beeclaw explained.

"We generally stay out of the carrion-place," Grovepelt said, shooting the apprentices a sharp look so they knew he was serious. "There are dozens of rats that live there. And, since two-legs are here sometimes too, it can be dangerous. There are also sometimes diseases…"

Grovepelt shook his head like he didn't want to think about it.

"Anyways, none of you are allowed to go in. No one is without special permission from Sedgestar. We avoid it if we can. But, it can be useful during starving leaf-bares when there is no prey in the forest because there are always rats and two-leg food to be found here. Luckily, we haven't had a bad enough leaf-bare to have to use it in seasons though," Grovepelt said.

The deputy turned and waved his tail for everyone to follow him.

"But, now let's head back to camp," he meowed from over his shoulder. "You've seen the landmarks of the territory, and you will become increasingly familiar with it through patrols and hunts."

Frostpaw cast a final look at the carrion-place, and when she turned around, she had to pick up her pace to catch up with the rest of the patrol. As the group padded through the quickly darkening forest, Frostpaw sighed in relief when she saw the thorn barrier that surrounded camp come into view. Her paws were dragging with tiredness, and her stomach clenched in hunger from not eating all day. The group brushed through the thorn tunnel and quickly fragmented, each apprentice splitting off with their respective mentor. Frostpaw hesitantly turned to Swoopstrike, waiting for his orders.

Swoopstrike wasn't even looking at her. He just stared off at something in the middle distance, his gaze and face blank.

"Go eat something, then get to your nest," Swoopstrike said in a flat voice. "Training starts at dawn."

Frostpaw nodded, but he was already walking away, scowling faintly to himself. Frostpaw's stomach flipped nervously as she watched him go. She sighed quietly, a feeling of despair settling over her.

 _How am I going to put up with six moons of this?_

* * *

Author's Note:

Hi everyone! It feels great to be writing again and working on a new Warriors Fanfiction. As those of you that have been following my other stories know, Lightning's Destiny is complete. And, after taking a while off after finishing it to focus on other things and stuff in my life (I moved! Which has been stressful but also fun lol. And I've been working on other projects like a Brambleclaw/Squirrelflight animation that I hope will be finished sometime soonish.) I'm ready to start seriously working on Frosted Heart (it and the animation I mentioned are my two big creative project focuses now.) And, I'm excited to really get into Frosted Heart. I'm sort of all over the place with it right now, since I'm writing the most exciting sections of chapters first, then going back and filling in the in between parts to make a cohesive chapter. So, it might be a little bit before I get myself on a consistent chapter release schedule, but I'm definitely working away on the story! Anyways, thank you all for reading, and an extra thank you to everyone who leaves reviews. I love hearing your thoughts on the chapters or characters.

See you next chapter!

Reviews:

Brian.H.H: Hi! It has been a while haha. Thank you! I'm excited to be getting into this story. And, yeah, Sedgestar definitely didn't give Frostpaw Swoopstrike as her mentor just to be mean, but (in the beginning at least) their pairing will be a bit rough. Personally, if I was leader, I'd probably not have done it, but Sedgestar is the one in charge not me haha.

BrightMind: Hello again! It's nice to see you back as well! And, yeah, we'll have to wait and see how their mentor-apprentice relationship progresses. But, you're right in that Swoopstrike may be grumpy and difficult sometimes, but he's not a bad guy.


	6. Chapter 6: Hunting

"Frostpaw!"

Frostpaw jerked awake in her nest to the sound of the harsh voice. Swoopstrike's black and silver striped head was peering into the bush and he glared at her with annoyed green eyes.

"Get out here," he snapped. "Or are you planning on sleeping the whole day away?"

"N-no," Frostpaw stammered, scrambling to her paws.

Swoopstrike had already vanished back outside.

Frostpaw stood a little too quickly and the branches of the holly bush that formed the apprentice's den scraped her ears. Frostpaw flinched, ducking down, and stepping around her den-mates, she quickly scrambled out of the bush.

It had only been a few sunrises since her apprentice ceremony, and she hadn't found training with Swoopstrike to have gotten any easier. She hadn't done much training at all with him either. So far, her days had consisted mostly of moss collection and border patrols. She knew that Poolpaw, Pinepaw, and Autumnpaw had already done some form of hunting or battle training... and the fact that she hadn't made her nervous. Frostpaw's tail twitched anxiously.

 _Will Swoopstrike teach me anything at all? Is he not going to try, and then make me fail deliberately?_

Frostpaw swallowed around the lump in her throat.

 _How will I prove myself if I'm never given the chance?_

Swoopstrike was waiting for her by the thorn tunnel, his tail tip twitching faintly. The weak light of dawn was just peeking through the trees, and it seemed like most of the camp was still asleep. Frostpaw padded up to Swoopstrike, biting back a comment about how he said she was sleeping the day away, but the whole rest of the clan wasn't even up yet.

"We're going hunting today," Swoopstrike said, shooting Frostpaw a perceptive look. "I wanted an early start."

Frostpaw felt a surge of relief that they were finally going hunting, followed by a flash of surprise that Swoopstrike had been able to guess her thoughts about the morning so easily. She nodded mutely.

 _Can he read my mind?!_

Swoopstrike stood and gave a deep stretch, his lanky legs reaching far out behind him. Frostpaw shifted impatiently from paw to paw as she waited for him to finish, and her stomach suddenly gave a low growl. Frostpaw winced in embarrassment, shooting Swoopstrike a look out of the corner of her eyes. She wasn't able to tell if his whiskers were twitching in amusement, or if that was just the wind.

"Hungry?" Swoopstrike quipped.

"A little," Frostpaw admitted.

"Good. It'll make your claws sharper. Let's get going," Swoopstrike said, finishing his stretch and bounding through the tunnel without another word, leaving Frostpaw to follow.

Frostpaw ran after her mentor, her paws flying as the two cats flashed through the still dark forest. Once they were a little ways away from camp, Swoopstrike slowed rapidly, coming to an almost jarring stop. He turned to Frostpaw just as quickly, causing her to jump slightly in surprise.

"What prey can you scent?" Swoopstrike asked.

"Um…" Frostpaw meowed uncertainly.

She took a few hesitant sniffs of the air.

"Open your mouth and draw the scent over your tongue. It'll heighten the smells," Swoopstrike said.

Frostpaw obeyed, closing her eyes for good measure to block out any visual distractions as she focused solely on scent. A hint of warm prey scent drifted over to her on the breeze, piercing it's way out of the deep, sharp scent of pine that surrounded her.

"Mouse?" she meowed, her eyes flickering open.

Swoopstrike's tail twitched.

"Was that a question or do you scent it?" he asked, an edge of irritation to his meow.

"I scent it," Frostpaw said, her ears flattening slightly.

"Good," he said curtly. "So, go find it. But, first…"

Swoopstrike led Frostpaw to a patch of toadstools growing at the roots of a nearby pine. Swoopstrike flopped over and rolled in the patch for a few moments. Then he stood, gave his pelt a shake to dislodge any dirt that clung to it, and nodded at the now mangled patch of mushrooms to indicate for Frostpaw to do the same.

Frostpaw looked at the toadstools then at Swoopstrike, a bewildered expression on her face. Swoopstrike gave a sigh of exasperation.

"The thing ShadowClan is best at is stalking, right?" he said in a tone like he was explaining the clans to a not-particularly bright kit. "Not even our prey see, hear or scent us. It's to disguise our scents."

Frostpaw bit her tongue against the annoyed snarl that threatened to creep across her muzzle and obediently rolled in the toadstools for a few moments. She stood and sniffed her pelt. She smelt just like a patch of mushrooms.

"I've never smelt any hunting patrol returning to camp reeking of mushrooms," Frostpaw muttered, half of her wondering if Swoopstrike had just made the whole thing up as an elaborate prank to embarrass her.

Swoopstrike didn't seem that childish, but there was no way to be sure.

"A quick grooming removes the scent easily," Swoopstrike said. "Be sure you roll in something before every hunt. It doesn't always have to be mushrooms, any mildly smelly plant will do. Just make sure it's not an herb that Clearstream uses or she'll claw your whiskers off."

Frostpaw snorted quietly to herself. It was hard to imagine the mild-mannered medicine cat raising her voice, let alone clawing someone. Her apprentice Elmclaw on the other paw…

Swoopstrike flicked his tail at Frostpaw, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Show me how you stalk," he said.

Frostpaw obediently slipped into the hunting crouch that she and her foster siblings had often practiced with Weaseltail.

Since ShadowClan territory had little undergrowth for cover, she was pressed as low to the ground as she could be to make her form as hidden as possible from any prey. Frostpaw also made sure her tail was held straight out behind her, in line with her spine, not sticking up to alert the prey, and not so low that it dragged on the ground. Frostpaw stalked forward a few fox-lengths to demonstrate.

"Walk quieter," Swoopstrike snapped.

Frostpaw laid her paws down as quietly as possible, doing her best to silently glide across the ground.

"Not terrible," Swoopstrike grunted. "We'll see how it holds up against real prey. Now, back to that mouse."

Swoopstrike had her take the lead and soon the two of them were slinking through the pine trees, following the mouse's scent trail. They slowed as the scent got stronger.

"Stick to the shadows," Swoopstrike whispered before nodding to Frostpaw to indicate she should go ahead.

Frostpaw breathed in deeply. The mouse scent was strong, although she still had no sight of it. She crept forward, careful to keep her paw-steps light, her eyes flittering across the forest floor. Her gaze locked ahead when she spotted a flicker of motion near the roots of an oak tree. She spotted a small brown mouse rooting around the leaves there, sniffing for insects. Frostpaw felt her mouth start to water at the sight of it, and her stomach clenched at the thought of food. Her tail almost started to twitch in excitement, but she stopped it just in time, before it could ruffle the leaves and alert the mouse to her presence.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Frostpaw started to creep forward. As Swoopstrike instructed, she stuck to the shadows of the trees that the now rising sun cast on the ground. Her approach was as silent as an owl's flight. The mouse seemed to have no idea that she was stalking it, and it obliviously continued its leaf rustling. Once Frostpaw was within pouncing distance, she paused for a moment to ready herself. Carefully judging the distance between her and her prey, Frostpaw bunched up her muscles and leapt. Her forepaws landed squarely down on the mouse, which let out a pained squeak before Frostpaw dropped her head down and snapped its neck with a quick bite.

 _I did it!_

Frostpaw felt a rush of excitement surge through her as she lifted her head with the mouse hanging limply from her jaws. She had managed to catch something on her first try! Frostpaw glanced up and felt some of her excitement fade as Swoopstrike padded up to her, frowning.

"Not bad, but you hesitated too much before pouncing," he said, tail-tip twitching. "If the mouse had decided to look up, it would've spotted you. You need to go right from stalking to leaping, no hesitation."

Frostpaw's whiskers drooped slightly, and she nodded. Swoopstrike lifted his nose to sniff the air. He nodded towards the mouse in Frostpaw's jaws.

"I'll take care of storing that," he meowed. "You keep on going, see what else you can find."

Frostpaw nodded again and dropped the mouse on the ground. She scented the air, then padded off into the forest. She continued to sniff as she walked, but she wasn't having luck picking up any prey scent. Frostpaw cast a glance over her shoulder. Swoopstrike hadn't caught up to her yet, and there seemed to be nothing but empty forest around her. Suddenly, the scent of lizard came in on the breeze. Frostpaw hesitated for a moment before shrugging and padding after the scent. She didn't care much for lizard herself, but some of her clan-mates preferred their meat to be scaly.

As Frostpaw rounded some trees, she spotted the lizard ahead, sunning itself in the morning light on a small pile of stones. Frostpaw crouched down low, quickly stalking up to the prey. She didn't hesitate this time before her pounce like Swoopstrike told her to, but she misjudged the distance and landed a little short of the lizard, which startled and started to scamper away.

"Snake-dung!" Frostpaw cursed, scrambling forward to try to snag the lizard with her claws.

But, it slipped between the cracks of two stones and vanished. Frostpaw sat up, her tail-tip twitching in irritation.

 _So much for "no hesitation." How are you supposed to know how far to pounce if you don't take a moment to check?_

Frostpaw looked around, but there was still no sign of Swoopstrike. Frostpaw sighed; at least he hadn't been around to witness her miss.

Frostpaw lingered by the stones for a few moments longer, seeing if he would appear, but Swoopstrike seemed to have vanished into the pine forest. Frostpaw's tail was slowly drooping.

 _What am I supposed to do without my mentor? Does he expect me to hunt alone?_

Frostpaw clenched her jaw. If Swoopstrike wasn't going to show up to help her, she wouldn't just hang around the forest like a lost kit.

 _I guess he's not even going to try to train me. But, I don't care. I'll catch a ton of prey to bring back to camp, that'll show him that I'm not useless._

Frostpaw set off again with determination in her step.

The morning sun inched higher into the sky, shining golden light down through the pine needles. It was turning into a beautiful new-leaf day, but prey were sleepy this morning, and Frostpaw was approaching the WindClan border with nothing to show but one small frog that she stumbled upon in a puddle a little ways back.

Frostpaw scented the air and felt her heart pick up in excitement when she scented a bird.

 _Finally,_ she thought, falling into her crouch and following the scent trail.

The scent led her closer to the WindClan border. She could see the golden grass of the moor peeking out between the trunks of the pines when she spotted the bird a few fox-lengths away from her. It was a robin on the marshy ground, pecking at an unlucky worm.

Frostpaw locked her eyes on the robin, hardly daring to breathe as to not disturb it as she stalked closer. The robin seemed very intent on it's own meal though, and not on the approaching apprentice. Frostpaw was almost close enough to pounce. Her hindquarters wiggled as she prepared to leap…

Frostpaw's concentration was shattered by a boisterous voice calling from across the moor.

" _ShadowClan!_ What are you doing so close to the border?!"

The loud voice startled both Frostpaw and the robin, and the bird took flight, shooting into the air and vanishing into the dense tangle of pine branches above with a loud alarm call. Frostpaw didn't even bother trying to leap after it, instead her head jerked up in shock, and she looked over to see a WindClan patrol streaking across the moor with a lanky light ginger tom in the lead.

"What's the matter, lizard got your tongue?" the ginger tom sneered. "I asked you what are you doing so close to our territory? Your rank ShadowClan scent is drifting all across the moor and scaring off our prey!"

It took Frostpaw a moment to understand that the cat was talking to _her,_ and running over in her direction.

Frostpaw realized with a jolt that she was so used to thinking as the other cats in the Clan as "ShadowClan" and herself as not, that she forgot that anyone outside of the Clan would just see her as one of them.

Frostpaw quickly backed away from the approaching patrol, her pelt bristling slightly in fear. The WindClan cats were sprinting over to her so quickly, she was almost sure they would barrel straight into the forest and leap at her, but the cats came to a skidding stop just short of the border. Frostpaw continued to back away into the shadows of the pines, her heart hammering loudly in her chest as she took in their fierce expressions. She slowly unsheathed her claws.

"Don't try to run away from me," the light ginger tom snarled angrily, striding to the side so he could look directly at Frostpaw from around the trunks of the trees.

His gaze was as fierce as claws racking her pelt as he stared at her.

"If you've done nothing wrong, what do you have to be afraid of?" he spat.

"I didn't do anything… And, I'm not afraid," Frostpaw snarled in the best not-afraid voice she could manage, swallowing nervously as she eyed the four angry cats in the patrol.

"You look like you are," the ginger tom hissed, flattening his large ears. "You'd only be so scared if you're guilty of something."

"I'm not!" Frostpaw protested in a stronger voice, her gaze wide.

"So, what have you been doing? Trespassing? Prey-stealing?" the tom continued, ignoring her, his eyes furious, narrow slits.

Frostpaw dug her claws into the ground at the ridiculous accusations, feeling the first stirrings of anger appear in her chest to replace the fear.

"Nothing!" Frostpaw said, baring her teeth. "I wasn't on your territory!"

"Tell me the truth, you lying frog-breath!" the ginger tom spat, pacing at the border, his claws out and his tail lashing.

 _I was doing nothing wrong! I hadn't crossed the border!_

Frostpaw felt a surge of white-hot anger fill her at the injustice of it. The anger rushed over her and suddenly, she found words spilling out of her mouth seemingly before her mind could even process them.

"Why in Star-Clan's name would I want to be in WindClan territory, cotton-head?!" Frostpaw snarled. "It's barren and empty! There's nothing there but stupid rabbits and stupid rabbit-brained cats like you!"

"How dare you!" the ginger tom growled, all the fur down his back bristling as he took a pace forward, over the border.

Frostpaw startled in surprise as there was a sound behind her that sounded like a mixture between a snarl and a roar. Frostpaw crouched in terror and felt the fur on her head and back stir in a breeze as a silver shadow leapt over her and charged up to the border. Frostpaw blinked in surprise, her fear fading as she recognized the silver and black dappled pelt as Swoopstrike. All of his fur stood on end, making him look almost twice as big as normal. His green eyes had a wild glint to them, and his lips were drawn back in a snarl so terrifying that it even made the aggressive ginger WindClan tom quickly take a pace back, onto to WindClan side of the border. Swoopstrike shot straight up to the ginger tom, stopping just short of the scent-markers, where he arched his back and let out a furious hiss, his silver and black striped tail lashing from side to side.

"I knew WindClan cats were stupid, but I didn't think that you all were this stupid!" Swoopstrike hissed, clawing at the ground with his claws. "First you harass my apprentice while she was hunting on _ShadowClan_ land. Then you dare cross our border and trespass into our territory?!"

Swoopstrike locked his searing gaze on the ginger tom.

"WindClan's leader, the mighty Rabbitstar, crossing our border to try to attack an apprentice barely older than 6 moons with _no_ battle training on ShadowClan's own territory!" Swoopstrike reiterated with a mocking sneer. "Oh this is good. I can't wait to hear what Sedgestar will say when I tell him about this!"

 _That's Rabbitstar!?_ Frostpaw thought, her eyes wide in shock.

"She was close to the border," Rabbitstar snapped defensively. "How do I know she wasn't prey-stealing?"

"She wasn't because I was watching her the whole time, cotton-brain!" Swoopstrike said, tail lashing impatiently.

Rabbitstar snorted, giving an exaggerated eye-roll.

"Yeah, okay. Like the word of two ShadowClan cats matters to me," he said.

Swoopstrike stilled suddenly, his once lashing tail now held stiff behind him.

"Well, I know our word will matter to Sedgestar," Swoopstrike said with an ominous growl, his eyes glinting with an unspoken threat.

Swoopstrike's implication didn't go unnoticed by WindClan's leader.

"Are you threatening me, Swoopstrike?" Rabbitstar asked, digging his claws into the ground.

"We have this saying in ShadowClan: Look before you leap because that worm might turn out to be a snake," Swoopstrike growled. "You better watch yourself, Rabbitstar, before you get bit."

With that, Swoopstrike curled his lip up at Rabbitstar in a final derisive snarl and whipped around, stalking back into the trees. As Swoopstrike padded past Frostpaw, he flicked his tail at her to indicate that she should follow. Frostpaw was eager to obey, scrambling after him and letting out a quiet sigh as the dense pines quickly hid the WindClan patrol from her sight.

"We're going back to camp and telling Sedgestar about this immediately," Swoopstrike growled in a voice that vibrated with rage. "That cotton-brained Rabbitstar has really done it this time. Who does he think he is? We'll _flay_ him and leave that shiny orange pelt of his hanging on a branch for the buzzards to pick clean."

Frostpaw nodded along, keeping her mouth shut in fear that if she said anything that it turned out he disagreed with, her mentor would turn his fury onto her.

Frostpaw felt some of the tension drain from her shoulders. Swoopstrike might not be her favorite cat in the forest, but she sure had been happy to see him springing out of the shadows to rescue her from WindClan.

Swoopstrike glanced at Frostpaw out of the corner of his eye.

"You did well standing up to them," Swoopstrike muttered the compliment grudgingly in a softer voice.

He glanced away from her, and his voice turned back to a harsh tone that Frostpaw was much more familiar with.

"But, you should've scented them coming before they saw you, and then vanished back into the trees," Swoopstrike snapped. "There's no need to stir up fights unnecessarily; you can learn much more about our enemies by watching them from the shadows. Cats that don't know they're being watched have loose tongues. Of course, there was nothing wrong with you hunting by the border, but Rabbitstar is extremely hot-headed and he'd claw anyone outside of WindClan up just for looking at him funny."

Frostpaw resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

 _I wonder what other cat that sounds like…_

But, nevertheless, Frostpaw felt a spark of warmth appear in her chest at the advice and _compliment_ she got from Swoopstrike.

Frankly, she was shocked that it appeared like Swoopstrike was even trying to train her at all. After he abandoned her to hunt alone, she had been convinced that the warrior wasn't even going to try. But, it turned out he had been watching her the whole time. Was him leaving her to hunt alone all a part of his training strategy and not just cruelty?

… _I wonder, if I can get Swoopstrike to like me, then will everyone else in ShadowClan follow suit?_

 _Well, he doesn't even have to like me,_ Frostpaw amended, shooting a quick look at Swoopstrike's scowling face. _But, tolerate me at least._

The rest of the trek back to camp was spent in silence. Swoopstrike spent the time quietly fuming over WindClan, occasionally muttering curses about Rabbitstar under his breath, while Frostpaw tried to work out her plan to win Swoopstrike's favor. It was funny, only a few pawfuls of sunrises ago, before she was an apprentice, the task of making Swoopstrike like her would not only have seemed close to impossible, but also something that she saw no point in pursuing. But, now, she already had one compliment in her favor, and the task seemed much less insurmountable.

Frostpaw found Snakeeye's words coming back to her again.

 _"You will have to fight twice as hard, hunt twice as much, run twice as far as them to prove yourself."_

… _I can do it._ Frostpaw thought, determination filling her.

She felt a jolt of surprise at the strength of the feeling. She didn't realize until now how much she _wanted_ this. She wanted ShadowClan to accept her. She wanted the easy companionship of friends. The sense of blind comfort that she had as a young kit with her mother, knowing that someone was there that she could rely on no matter what. As much as Frostpaw liked her foster mother Redclaw, she knew that she never gave Redclaw the chance to be that for her.

Frostpaw felt a flash of guilt.

She knew Redclaw was a good cat, who defended and loved Frostpaw, but Frostpaw had closed her heart to her, in fear that if she let her in, she would be replacing May… or even worse, she feared that if she let herself love Redclaw, it would destroy her if she lost her like she lost May. But, in this effort to protect herself, Frostpaw had closed herself off to everyone. And, now… she was so lonely.

The feeling surged over her so powerfully, Frostpaw bit the insides of her cheek to stop herself from suddenly wailing like a lost kit.

She and Swoopstrike finally made it back to camp, and they padded inside through the thorn tunnel, the brambles scraping Frostpaw's fur as she pushed her way through. In in the center of camp, Swoopstrike gestured for Frostpaw to stay there, as he headed alone towards the entrance of the leader's den nestled in the oak tree's roots. Frostpaw stood in the center of camp. Her thoughts had drifted far from the confrontation with WindClan, and now she just felt utterly lost.

 _What do I do? Where do I even begin?_

Her gaze flickered to over by the fresh-kill pile, where she spotted Autumnpaw's familiar fluffy dark ginger and white pelt. He was talking with Murmurkit and Mosskit, and Frostpaw felt the turmoil in her heart ease slightly.

 _At least… I'm not entirely alone._

She may have not let Redclaw or Autumnpaw in as much as she should've. But, the two of them seemed to care for her anyways. Weaseltail also was kind to her. And, Poolpaw was tolerable at the times he wasn't being an annoying frog-brain. And, Pinepaw… well Frostpaw would work on her along with Swoopstrike.

Frostpaw padded towards Autumnpaw, and her ears pricked as snippets of his conversation drifted over to her. Murmurkit and Mosskit were begging him to show them his hunting crouch or some battle moves. Autumnpaw was bragging with a playful glint in his amber eyes about the territory that he explored. Autumnpaw's gaze flicked up and he spotted Frostpaw approaching them.

"Oh, hi Frostpaw!" Autumnpaw meowed cheerfully. "I didn't expect you to be back from your hunting lessons so soon."

"Hi Autumnpaw," Frostpaw said.

She turned towards the kits.

"Hi Murmurkit. Hi Mosskit," she added.

The two of them blinked at her in surprise. Frostpaw felt her fur start to flush with embarrassed heat as she realized that the whole time that they were in the nursery together, she barely said more than a few words to them, and never asked to play or anything.

 _No wonder they look so surprised._

"Hi Frostpaw," Murmurkit said quietly.

"Autumnpaw was telling us about how much territory he's seen!" Mosskit meowed excitedly, seemingly not bothered by Frostpaw's sudden acknowledgement of her and her sister. "Have you seen it too?"

"Yeah, she went on the same tour as I did," Autumnpaw said. "Our mentors showed us _everything."_

Mosskit's eyes shone in excitement.

"Have you seen any cats from the other Clans? What are they like?" she asked, particularly bouncing with energy.

"Well… no, not yet," Autumnpaw meowed regretfully, his ears dropping in disappointment.

Frostpaw hesitated. Autumnpaw glanced over to her, his brow furrowing as he read her expression.

"Wait… have you seen them? Did something happen today? Is that why you are back already?" Autumnpaw asked, his ears snapping back up as he suddenly became as excited as Mosskit.

Now all three of them turned to her, their eyes wide and eager.

"Well…" Frostpaw said, her heart racing nervously at the undivided attention the three cats were showing her. "Swoopstrike is talking to Sedgestar. I don't know if he wants me to tell anyone until Sedgestar decides what to do…"

 _"What?!"_ Autumnpaw exclaimed, his mouth comically gaping open. "Your mentor's talking to Sedgestar about it!? I'm dying of curiosity now. Now you have you tell us!"

"We won't tell anyone," Murmurkit promised.

"Please!" Mosskit added.

Frostpaw's tail-tip twitched indecisively. She didn't want Swoopstrike to get mad at her, especially not when she'd just decided she wanted him to like her. But, also, these three cats were looking at her so eagerly. They were happy to hear her talk; they wanted to know what she had to say. How many times had that happened to her before? Besides Autumnpaw, Redclaw and Weaseltail, not that often.

"Okay," she finally conceded. "I saw a WindClan patrol today."

"And…?" Autumnpaw prompted. "Swoopstrike wouldn't be talking to Sedgestar right now, if you just saw them and nothing else happened."

"I was hunting near the border, and they came over to me because they were suspicious that I was too close to their territory. Rabbitstar stepped over the border, acting like he might attack me, before Swoopstrike stepped in and stopped him," Frostpaw said quickly.

"Holy StarClan!" Autumnpaw exclaimed, his eyes as wide as moons. "The leader of WindClan tried to attack you?!"

Frostpaw shrugged.

"I guess I don't know if he was actually going to," Frostpaw said.

She fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment.

"Although, maybe. I got him mad because I called him rabbit-brained," she added.

 _"You_ called WindClan's leader rabbit-brained?" Murmurkit said with a loud purr, Mosskit and Autumnpaw joined in with _mrows_ of laughter, and Frostpaw felt her pelt flush with heat.

"Well I didn't know that it was _Rabbitstar_ that I called _rabbit_ -brained," Frostpaw said.

"That's hilarious," Autumnpaw said, gasping for breath between his deep rumbling laughs.

"I can't believe you've only been apprentices for a few sunrises and you're already doing so many cool things!" Mosskit added with a jealous sigh.

"Well you and Murmurkit are only a moon younger than us," Frostpaw pointed out. "So, you two will be apprentices very soon too."

"Gossiping already?"

Frostpaw jumped guiltily at the sound of Swoopstrike's rasping voice from behind her. She turned around quickly to face him, her pelt prickling in apprehension.

"Swoopstrike! I'm sorry, I was just—"

Swoopstrike interrupted her with a shake of his head.

"Doesn't matter," he meowed curtly. "Sedgestar is making an announcement to the whole Clan about WindClan this evening. And, he plans on confronting them at the gathering tonight, so everyone in the forest will know soon enough."

"Are you and Frostpaw going to the gathering?" Mosskit asked Swoopstrike, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Yes," Swoopstrike said. "Sedgestar said all of the apprentices are going. ShadowClan has the most apprentices and warriors out of all of the Clans right now. Sedgestar wants make sure everyone knows it. We're giving a show of strength."

Frostpaw felt her stomach flip nervously.

 _I'm going to a gathering? Tonight? There will be so many cats there. Not to mention Rabbitstar and the WindClan cats that wanted to rip my pelt off today…_

Swoopstrike turned to Frostpaw.

"Change the elder's nests and bring them some fresh-kill. Then get something to eat yourself and rest up for the gathering," Swoopstrike said sharply.

Then he turned and padded out of camp without so much as another word. Frostpaw watched him go, wondering where he was off to, but her thoughts were distracted by Autumnpaw giving her side an enthusiastic shove.

"Can you believe it!" he meowed excitedly. "Our first gathering already! Tonight! I can't wait to tell Poolpaw and Pinepaw!"

Frostpaw nodded, but her paws pricked with nervousness at the thought of seeing Rabbitstar and the other WindClan warriors again.

 _What is Sedgestar going to do?_

* * *

Author's Note: Hello again so soon! I'm doing pretty well with keeping up with writing this right now, so hopefully I'll be back next week with another chapter!

Reviews:

Brian.H.H: Thank you! And, not a problem, we all get busy with life stuff :)

Brightmind: Yeah Lightning's Destiny is finished! And, I already miss writing those characters. And, I'm glad you are still taking the time to check on my stories. My interest in the fandom kind of wanes sometimes too. I haven't been reading the new books, and I don't know if I will ever read them if I'm being honest. But, I definitely still like writing fanfiction for it and doing fanart, and I don't feel like that'll go away anytime soon!


	7. Chapter 7: The Gathering

Frostpaw felt distracted during her duties all day. When she was changing the elder's bedding, she barely noticed how Flymask muttered unhappily about a rogue in the Clan while she fetched him fresh moss for his nest, and scraped out the old, musty smelling stuff.

Once she finished, she padded out of the elder's den to give her pelt a quick grooming to remove the bits of moss that clung to her fur. She spotted Autumnpaw with Poolpaw and Pinepaw near the fresh-kill pile. Like he could feel her gaze on him, Autumnpaw raised his head and glanced over at Frostpaw, waving his tail at her to gesture for her to come over to them. Frostpaw rose to her paws and obeyed, pretending not to hear Pinepaw's sigh of disappointment as she padded up to the siblings.

"Have you eaten yet?" Autumnpaw meowed, a rabbit at his paws. "Remember, Swoopstrike said we need to eat before we head to the gathering! Do you want to share this with me?"

Frostpaw looked at the prey with curiosity. Not many rabbits found their way into ShadowClan's pine forest and marshes

"Sure," Frostpaw meowed.

She bent down and took a bite of the rabbit.

"It's good," she meowed. "I haven't had rabbit before."

"Well then move your fluffy tail over and let me try!" Autumnpaw said with a purr of amusement.

Frostpaw obediently scooted over and Autumnpaw tucked into the prey.

"It is good," he mumbled through a mouthful of meat. "And that'll show WindClan! We got one of their rabbits."

"And, why do we care about WindClan?" Pinepaw asked with a wrinkle of her nose.

"Did you hear?" Autumnpaw meowed, an excited gleam in his amber eyes. "Frostpaw got into a confrontation with WindClan today!"

"Really?" Poolpaw asked, turning to Frostpaw.

Pinepaw flattened her ears.

"Are you sure she's just not making it all up?" Pinepaw sniffed.

Frostpaw shrugged, not in the mood to argue with the difficult she-cat.

"Sedgestar is going to make an announcement about it before we leave for the gathering," Frostpaw meowed. "So, you'll hear about it soon enough."

Frostpaw quickly finished off her half of the rabbit before excusing herself to the apprentice's den to take a nap before the gathering.

She pushed her way through the unfriendly looking holly bush that guarded the apprentice's den and into the much cozier, friendlier looking, moss-lined interior. Damppaw was the only other apprentice in the den, and he was sound asleep in his nest. Frostpaw quietly padded around him, careful not to wake him up and have her ears clawed off by him for being an annoying rogue that stomped around as loudly as a badger. Luckily, the tom remained fast asleep, and she made it to her nest without incident. Frostpaw's nest was pushed up against the wall of the den, next to the holly bush's branches. It was more drafty than the nests more close to the center of the den, but it was new-leaf so the air wasn't too cold, and Frostpaw's long pelt was thick. Autumnpaw's, Poolpaw's and Pinepaw's nests were more close to the center of the den, but Damppaw and Dewpaw as the oldest apprentices, got the best nests, right in the center. Frostpaw supposed that she could try to move her nest closer to her foster siblings. She didn't think Autumnpaw, Poolpaw or Dewpaw would mind, but she hadn't thought it worth the fight that it would probably create with Pinepaw and Damppaw.

So, Frostpaw settled into her cramped little nest pushed up against the holly's branches, closed her eyes and let the dark blanket of sleep wash over her.

Frostpaw was jerked awake by a paw shaking her shoulder. She blinked her eyes open, the fluffy red form standing over her coming into focus as the sleep faded from her vision.

"The sun is starting to set," Autumnpaw meowed. "I think Sedgestar is going to call a clan meeting soon."

Frostpaw felt a flash of anxiety as she imagined Sedgestar talking about her to the whole clan, but she did her best to push the feeling away and ignore it.

"Coming," Frostpaw muttered through a wide yawn.

She stumbled to her paws, and as Autumnpaw excitedly bounded out of the den, she followed more slowly.

As Frostpaw exited the holly bush, she scanned the camp, spotting Sedgestar sitting at the base of Clanrock, close to the moss-covered entrance to the medicine cat's den. He sat in a small circle with Grovepelt, Emberflower, Clearstream, and Elmclaw. Sedgestar seemed to be listening intently to something Clearstream was saying, nodding along to his medicine cat's words.

Frostpaw glanced away from him and looked around camp. There seemed to be a lot of cats milling about, probably eager to know who would be going to the gathering. Frostpaw padded over to where Autumnpaw and the rest of the other apprentices were sitting, taking a seat a little on the outskirts of the group.

The sun had just dipped below the horizon when Sedgestar excused himself from his inner circle of advisors and bounded to the top of the Clanrock, his eyes bright.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath Clanrock for a clan meeting!" Sedgestar announced.

Frostpaw noticed that the words were really more ceremonial than anything else because almost everyone was already hanging out in camp, expecting some sort of announcement before the gathering. But, the cats quieted down and turned towards their leader.

Sedgestar was quiet for a moment like he was getting his thoughts in order.

"As you all know," Sedgestar began. "Tonight is a night of the full-moon. But, before we leave for the gathering, there are some important things that everyone should hear."

Sedgestar hesitated for a moment, his brown-striped tail twitching.

"WindClan and its leader Rabbitstar have insulted us today," Sedgestar said, his voice becoming cold. "Rabbitstar blatantly crossed our borders in an attempt to attack Frostpaw while she and Swoopstrike were hunting near the WindClan border. Swoopstrike managed to drive Rabbitstar back onto his own land, but this insult to us cannot stand."

Yowls of anger rose up from the crowd.

"Who does Rabbitstar think he is?!" Greytail hissed, baring her yellowed fangs.

"At least WindClan's old leader had some respect for ShadowClan," Flymask complained to his den-mates. "Rabbitstar has less sense than a kit!"

"If I was a few seasons younger, I'd teach that scrawny tom a lesson!" Treefur growled in agreement, digging his claws into the ground.

Sedgestar waved his tail for silence. Reluctantly the clan settled down. Darkpelt got to his paws, gazing up at Sedgestar.

"What are we going to do about them?" Darkpelt growled, his black fur bristling.

"WindClan cannot face us in battle," Sedgestar rumbled in a low, threatening voice. "If they have any sense, they must know that. We have them in numbers and strength."

There was a little bit of cheering from the crowd. Frostpaw glanced over at her den-mates. Pinepaw, Damppaw, and Poolpaw were among the cheerers; they gazed up at Sedgestar with bright eyes.

"…Because of this, I hope to solve this transgression without conflict," Sedgestar continued over the cheering of the crowd.

The cheering quickly died away, and some cats gazed up at Sedgestar in confusion.

"Why?" Fogfur protested, rising to his paws. "If we can beat them in battle, why don't we? That will teach them a lesson."

"You're not wrong," Sedgestar said to Fogfur, nodding to him. "But, Rabbitstar didn't steal any prey or attack anyone, even though he may have tried. I would rather not risk injuring my warriors for a relatively small insult. Granted, we cannot allow this behavior from WindClan to continue because then it could escalate to something much worse. So, if Rabbitstar doesn't change his ways, a battle will be inevitable… but at least for right now, it isn't."

Fogfur sat down without another word of protest, but he was still frowning slightly. Frostpaw glanced over at Swoopstrike to see what his expression looked like, but his face was unreadable.

"I will demand an apology from Rabbitstar tonight in front of the other leaders," Sedgestar continued. "Rabbitstar insulted our pride by trespassing, so he will have to swallow his pride and humble himself before us, the other four clans, and StarClan to make up for it. We will also show Rabbitstar that we are strong and not to be trifled with. I want all of the apprentices and their mentors to come to the gathering tonight. Emberflower, Hootflight, Darkpelt, Leafbreeze, Redclaw and Weaseltail will come too."

The named cats rose to their paws as Sedgestar bounded down from Clanrock, indicating that the meeting was over.

"We will head out when it's fully dark," Sedgestar meowed to the standing group.

Frostpaw gazed at the large group of cats. She knew from Swoopstrike that ShadowClan was the biggest clan in the forest right now, and it seemed that Sedgestar wanted to make sure WindClan was well aware of that since he had chosen a huge group of warriors to go. Autumnpaw turned around and his gaze met Frostpaw's. He bounded over to her, his fur prickling with excitement.

"WindClan won't even know what hit them!" he said.

After sunset, the large group headed off, silently trekking through the dark forest.

Frostpaw glanced around. Despite the full moon, the dense canopy of pine branches above them blotted out most of the light, and all she could make out of her clan-mates were flickers of shadows here and there, and flashes of reflective eyes. The large group also moved with surprising quietness, no one spoke or hardly made a sound at all. Frostpaw had to consciously lay her paws as carefully and quietly as she could on the ground as they walked, not wanting to be the only one with noisy footfalls.

As they padded past the Burnt Sycamore, Frostpaw recognized the direction they were heading; towards the ThunderClan border.

 _We must be going to the tunnel. Grovepelt said it was used to get to gatherings._

Frostpaw's hunch was right, and soon the acidic tang of the thunderpath hung in the air as Sedgestar led the group towards the tunnel that went under the thunderpath. Sedgestar was the first to enter the black hole that yawned in the earth, and the last thing Frostpaw saw was his brown-striped tail flicking to indicate for the group to follow before that too was swallowed by the shadows. Frostpaw waited her turn as the patrol streamed through the tunnel. After Swoopstrike vanished inside, Frostpaw padded up to the tunnel and forced herself not to hesitate as she strode inside.

She blinked. It was pitch black down there, and Frostpaw was guided forward only by her whiskers. After walking for a short while, Frostpaw felt two breezes on her whiskers from different directions, which seemed to indicate a split in the tunnel ahead. Frostpaw scented the air, and sure enough through the stinging scent of the thunderpath, she seemed to detect the sweet scent of heather from the moorland in one direction, and the musky scent of trees in another. Her clan-mates scent headed towards the trees, so Frostpaw continued on that way.

Pale moonlight flickered ahead, heralding the end of the tunnel. As Frostpaw exited the tunnel, she had to crouch down low under a prickly bramble bush that grew hunched over the entrance, hiding it from view. As Frostpaw wiggled out from under the bush, she blinked as she emerged back into the outside world. But, this forest wasn't the familiar one that she had just been walking through. For one, there weren't as many pine trees, and there was much more dense undergrowth in every direction. Frostpaw's pelt prickled uncomfortably as she looked around. She didn't like not being able to see the area around her; it made her feel boxed in.

Sedgestar and the rest of the patrol were waiting a few fox-lengths away from the bramble bush for everyone to appear from the mouth of the tunnel. Frostpaw padded over to them, and they waited until Leafbreeze, the last in the patrol emerged. Then Sedgestar waved his tail, and the group was off again. It was a short walk through the woods to a crest of a hill, where Sedgestar and the rest of the patrol lingered. Frostpaw looked down the hill, and her eyes widened at the sight before her.

Four massive oak trees soared towards the sky down in the hollow at the base of the hill. The trees were ringed by a dense circle of vegetation, but she could see the forms of cats flickering through the undergrowth in the clearing between the trees. Right in the center of the clearing a huge boulder jutted upwards. It was even bigger than Clanrock, and it made an imposing lone figure; the cats beside it looked tiny in comparison.

Sedgestar gave a flick of his tail, and like a surging river, ShadowClan ran down the hill together. Frostpaw was careful to keep up with her clan-mates, not wanting to be the only one lingering behind on the hill. As soon as the cats brushed through the vegetation and into the clearing, the silent spell that had seemed to have been hanging over the patrol was broken. Frostpaw watched her clan-mates happily chatting with each other, some even headed off alone into the crowd, meowing hellos at acquaintances from other Clans. Frostpaw hung back, taking in the huge groups of cats, unsure of where to begin.

Frostpaw was glad to see that Autumnpaw, Poolpaw, and Pinepaw were also lingering by the edge, looking as overwhelmed as she felt. Frostpaw padded over to them and Autumnpaw greeted her with a quick purr.

"Where do we start?" Poolpaw gasped, unabashedly staring into the crowd.

"The crowd can seem a bit overwhelming your first gathering," Redclaw purred, padding up to the group of apprentices. "Why don't you try talking to some apprentices from different clans? The night of the full moon is a truce, so there's no need to worry about getting your fur clawed."

"I'm not worried!" Pinepaw huffed, shaking out her dark coat. "But, I don't want to talk to any _WindClan_ apprentices. And, I don't know why Sedgestar is even bothering talking to them tonight! They're trespassers that need to be taught a lesson!"

"Sedgestar is very wise," Redclaw meowed, shooting her daughter a sharp look. "He understands that there are times when battle isn't necessary."

"And, besides," Redclaw said, giving Pinepaw's ears an affectionate flick with her tail. "If I know anything about Rabbitstar… having to apologize in front of all of the Clans will be worse for him than any battle!"

Frostpaw purred alongside the three siblings.

"Now go along and have some fun before the leaders hog the whole gathering talking about themselves," Redclaw meowed, her eyes sparkling playfully.

Redclaw padded away, meowing hello to a queen that smelt of ThunderClan.

"I see Damppaw with some RiverClan cats!" Pinepaw meowed, her gaze lighting up. "I'm going to sit with them."

Pinepaw shot a glance back at the other apprentices.

"You two can join me if you want," she said pointedly to Autumnpaw and Poolpaw, ignoring Frostpaw.

"And, listen to Damppaw boast all night about how he's the greatest hunter in the whole forest?" Autumnpaw meowed with a wrinkle of his nose. "No thanks."

Poolpaw snickered, while Pinepaw flicked her tail, giving a sniff.

"Suit yourself," she meowed, padding off into the crowd.

"Let's go find some apprentices to talk to like Mom said," Autumnpaw meowed.

Poolpaw nodded in agreement, and Autumnpaw turned to Frostpaw.

"Are you coming?" he meowed.

Frostpaw was still gazing at the big crowd, but she gave her head a shake to snap herself out of it.

"Yeah," she meowed.

Autumnpaw led the way, padding intrepidly into the crowd. Poolpaw followed behind him, with Frostpaw taking the rear. The crowd of cats was dense, however, and soon Frostpaw got separated from the brothers, losing track of Poolpaw's black and white pelt.

Frostpaw's pace slowed, and she hesitantly scented the air, but it was hard to decipher Poolpaw's and Autumnpaw's scents from the scents of so many other cats and clans packed in so closely together. Frostpaw just picked the general direction they were padding in and continued that way, hoping that she'd be able to spot them once she got to an area where the crowd was less dense. Frostpaw brushed around a large tabby, and—

"…May?"

The name was whispered in a shocked, hushed voice. It was so quiet that Frostpaw's ears barely deciphered it among the sounds of so many cats chatting together. But, although the voice had been soft, the familiar word cut Frostpaw down to her heart like an ice-cold claw, sending a chill racing through her body as if she had fallen into a river of freezing water. Frostpaw whipped around towards the voice, and out of the crowd of many cats her gaze fell on a large white tom. He was a few fox-lengths away from her, staring at her with wide green eyes, looking like he just saw a ghost. Their gazes locked together.

"…Who are you?" Frostpaw asked.

Her voice trembled slightly, and she felt her heart hammering in her chest.

The fluffy white tom blinked and gave his head a sharp shake like he was snapping himself out of a trance.

"My mistake," he meowed quickly, looking away from her. "For a moment, I thought you were someone else."

"How do you know that name?" Frostpaw asked.

He voice was hushed, but it reverberated with intensity as she took a step towards him.

The white tom didn't respond. Instead he turned and quickly padded away, into the crowd, his form rapidly getting lost in the sea of pelts. Frostpaw took another step in his direction, about to follow him, when a different voice interrupted her.

"Who were you just talking to?"

Swoopstrike materialized at Frostpaw's side, causing her to jump slightly.

"I—I don't know," she stammered. "I didn't get his name."

Swoopstrike shot her a look from narrowed eyes, but then his gaze flickered from her to the cats around them. Frostpaw and Swoopstrike had drawn the attention of some neighboring WindClan cats, and now they were staring daggers at the mentor and apprentice.

"That's the weird-furred apprentice that was at our border today," a dark tabby WindClan warrior said, in a voice deliberately loud enough to be overheard by Frostpaw.

A few other WindClan cats hissed at them.

"The gathering will be starting soon," Swoopstrike said to Frostpaw, ignoring the WindClan cats besides shooting them a scorching look. "Let's go sit with our Clan. Stay close to me."

Frostpaw nodded.

 _I wonder if he wants me to stay close to protect me from the WindClan cats. Or, if he doesn't trust me to not spill ShadowClan secrets like the one about the tunnel…_

Frostpaw followed Swoopstrike through the crowd, over to where ShadowClan was loosely grouped, with some unfamiliar cats from the other clans mixed in. But, Frostpaw couldn't put the white cat out of her mind.

 _How does he know my mother's name? Did May know about other Clans besides ShadowClan?_

An image of her mother appeared in Frostpaw's mind. She saw her soft-furred form, her cream colored body, her grey tail and legs, and her grey masked face with a kind expression.

Frostpaw looked down at her feet. She wasn't surprised that the white tom had mistaken her for her mother. She looked just like her. There were some differences of course, like Frostpaw's legs were grey tabby striped instead of solid colored, and she had white toes. And, she knew from the glimpses she could get of her reflection in pools of water that her grey face was also striped and she had a white chin. But, the two of them were clearly kin. Especially considering the fact that it seemed like no other cat in the forest had May's and Frostpaw's coloring.

Frostpaw wished that she could see May again. She was just realizing that she knew almost nothing about her own mother. Frostpaw had no idea where she came from, or how she knew the Clans, or how she knew that white cat.

As she and Swoopstrike approached their clan-mates, Autumnpaw, who was sitting by Poolpaw and Dewpaw, and an apprentice Frostpaw didn't recognize, waved his tail at Frostpaw, gesturing for her to come sit by him. Frostpaw glanced over at Swoopstrike for permission, and he nodded. Frostpaw padded over to her den-mates.

"There you are!" Autumnpaw meowed cheerfully. "You must have gotten lost!"

Frostpaw just nodded, deciding not to say anything about her strange encounter with the white cat just yet, and she took a seat next to Autumnpaw.

"Hello," the unfamiliar brown tabby apprentice meowed from behind Frostpaw as she settled down. "My name is Larchpaw. I'm a SkyClan apprentice."

"I'm Frostpaw. ShadowClan," Frostpaw meowed, turning back to look at her. "This is my first gathering."

"Mine too!" Larchpaw meowed, her tail curling up happily.

She shot Frostpaw a shy look.

"Can I just say your fur is so pretty! How do you only have grey on your face and legs like that?" Larchpaw purred.

Frostpaw felt her fur flush with heat.

"I don't know… I was just born like this I guess," she mumbled.

Frostpaw, her ears still warm, turned to look back forward towards the Great Rock. As she did so, she caught a wave of Larchpaw's scent. She smelt like windblown trees, and Frostpaw was startled to realize that she had picked up a flash of that same scent from the white tom she had spoken to earlier.

Frostpaw was pulled out of her thoughts when Autumnpaw leaned towards her.

"Which one is Rabbitstar?" Autumnpaw whispered to Frostpaw, looking up at the five cats perched on the massive rock that jutted up in the middle of the clearing.

"The ginger furred one," Frostpaw said, her gaze flickering to Rabbitstar.

He stood a little ways away from the other leaders, at the edge of the boulder. Frostpaw's gaze scanned the rest of the cats there. Sedgestar sat right in the middle, two cats on either side of him. Frostpaw thought he looked calm and collected, with his long tail wrapped neatly around his paws and his head held high, cutting a regal figure against the dark sky. To Sedgestar's left, between him and Rabbitstar, was a sleek grey tabby she-cat. To Sedgestar's right were two toms, one a pale brown, and the other a light grey.

Frostpaw's gaze drifted downwards. At the base of the Great Rock sat the deputies. Frostpaw's gaze skimmed over the familiar fur of Grovepelt as she eyed a brown tom, a golden tabby she-cat, a tabby tom, and…

Frostpaw felt a jolt as she spotted the white tom sitting there with the other deputies.

 _Is the white cat SkyClan's deputy?_

"I know RiverClan's leader, Willowstar, is a she-cat so she must be the grey tabby next to Sedgestar," Autumnpaw murmured to Frostpaw. "That means ThunderClan's and SkyClan's leaders are on the toms on Sedgestar's other side, but I don't know which one's which."

"ThunderClan's leader, Morningstar, is the grey tom," Dewpaw meowed, overhearing Autumnpaw. "And, SkyClan's leader, Fennelstar is the pale brown one with bushy fur."

"Oh, thanks," Autumnpaw said with a purr of laughter. "I forgot that you've been to a gathering before."

"Who are the deputies?" Frostpaw asked quickly.

"The tabby tom is RiverClan's, Perchpelt. The brown tom, there, is Acornear, from ThunderClan. Then there's Wheatfur from WindClan. She's the golden one. And, the white one is Paledusk from SkyClan," Dewpaw said, rattling off the names quickly, and flicking her tail in the direction of each to indicate as she said their names.

 _Why would the SkyClan deputy know my mother?_ Frostpaw thought, her brow furrowing.

"Paledusk has only been our deputy for a few moons," Larchpaw meowed helpfully from behind Frostpaw. "Robinsong died of green-cough during leafbare, and he was named deputy to replace her."

Frostpaw wanted to ask Larchpaw what else she knew about Paledusk, but her attention was directed back to the Great Rock as there was movement from the leaders. Willowstar had strode forward, raising her tail for attention.

"Cats of the five Clans of the forest," Willowstar meowed in a loud voice. "Tonight is the night of the full-moon. So, let the gathering begin."

Quiet settled over the cats as they waited for their leaders to speak. Willowstar dipped her head courteously to the other leaders.

"Who would like to start?" she asked.

Morningstar was on his paws immediately, his grey-furred tail held high.

"New-leaf has brought bountiful prey to our territory, and ThunderClan is stronger than ever," he announced, with a pointed look at the other leaders, his gaze resting on Rabbitstar and Fennelstar specifically. "We've seen the births of two litters of kits in the past moon, and the making of a new warrior, Rockstorm."

The ThunderClan cats cheered, and there was some mutterings of congratulations for Rockstorm from cats from the other Clans. Frostpaw craned her neck to look at the grey tom for a moment. Autumnpaw leaned close to her.

"Remember how ThunderClan almost died during leaf-bare?" he whispered into her ear. "It sounds like Morningstar is eager to make them sound strong again."

"Yeah, their numbers are still low. They don't even have any apprentices now that Rockstorm's a warrior," Dewpaw added, nodding.

"Ha! Poor Rockstorm. He's left the apprentice's den, but he'll still be changing elders' nests and checking them for ticks!" Poolpaw snickered from behind them.

"That is all I have to report," Morningstar said.

Morningstar stepped back, casting the other leaders another suspicious glance as he did so. Willowstar strode forward, seemingly unbothered by his pointed look.

"The fish are swimming well in RiverClan," the pretty tabby purred in a silky voice. "And, I am pleased to announce that our medicine cat, Pebblestripe, has decided to take on an apprentice. RiverClan welcomes Hailpaw."

Frostpaw looked over to the medicine cats and was surprised to see that the medicine cats from all of the Clans were grouped closely together like old friends.

 _I guess they do spend a lot of time together during the half-moon._

Frostpaw assumed that the cat shyly ducking her head over there, a white she-cat with some grey tabby patches, was the new apprentice, Hailpaw. Cats cheered for Hailpaw like they did Rockstorm, but Frostpaw noticed the cheering for Hailpaw was louder, and more cats outside of RiverClan joined in, even some of her clan-mates.

 _Is that because she's training to be a medicine cat? Or, is RiverClan just more liked than ThunderClan?_

"Hailpaw will make her first journey to Mothermouth at the next half-moon, where her apprenticeship shall be announced before StarClan," Willowstar finished after the cheering died down, and she returned to her seat, with a flick of her tail to indicate that she was done.

Fennelstar shot Sedgestar a questioning look, and Sedgestar courteously inclined his head towards the SkyClan leader, indicating for Fennelstar to go. Fennelstar rose to his paws, his spiky, bushy fur waving in the slight breeze.

"SkyClan is doing well. There is some two-leg activity on our borders; it appears like they are building more nests," he announced. "But, our prey are still running well. If anything, it's doing better than ever because the two-legs are scaring everything in our direction. So, thank you, two-legs."

There were some purrs of laughter from the cats in the crowd. Frostpaw glanced over and noticed everyone seemed amused besides the ThunderClan cats, who stared up at Fennelstar with stony gazes.

"That's funny. If prey is running so well, then why are your warriors hunting beyond your borders?" Morningstar said, rising to his paws to confront Fennelstar.

Fennelstar turned to look at the ThunderClan leader, blinking at him slowly.

"SkyClan cats are not thieves," Fennelstar meowed. "Have you actually seen any of my warriors in your territory?"

Morningstar shifted uneasily from paw to paw.

"No," he admitted. "But, we can scent you."

Fennelstar shrugged.

"Winds blow the scent-markers all over the place. That doesn't mean cats have been there," Fennelstar said.

The fur down Morningstar's back raised.

"You think I can't tell the difference between trespassing cats and windblown scent markers?!" he hissed, his voice vibrating with outrage.

Fennelstar didn't reply, but he did give an ear twitch which seemed to indicate that was the case. Morningstar gave another hiss, rounding on the SkyClan leader.

Sedgestar rose to his paws, wedging his way in between the two bristling cats.

"Watch your tempers," he said in a low rumbling voice. "It is a Gathering after all."

Sedgestar turned to Fennelstar.

"Have you finished your report?" he asked.

Fennelstar dipped his head to indicate Sedgestar should go. Sedgestar turned to sweep his gaze over the crowd.

"ShadowClan is at the height of our strength," Sedgestar said.

His voice wasn't necessarily loud, but it was still strong, carrying all out through the clearing with a sort of effortless power. Frostpaw noticed her clan-mates were sitting up a bit straighter, their heads were held a pit more proudly, and their eyes shined as they looked up at their leader.

"We've made four new apprentices this past moon," Sedgestar said, nodding towards Frostpaw and the others.

Frostpaw felt her pelt prickle uncomfortably as the strange cats from the other Clans turned to stare at them. There were a few murmurs of congratulations, but no cheering. The mood had been soured by Morningstar's confrontation with SkyClan.

"And, we are expecting more kits to be born very soon, so our ranks will continue to swell." Sedgestar continued, but then his voice darkened. "But, speaking of trespassing cats…"

He paused for a moment, and everyone at the gathering watched him intently with bated breath, waiting for whatever came next. Sedgestar turned his head to look at Rabbitstar. The ginger tom met his gaze unflinchingly.

"Just today one of my warriors reported to me that Rabbitstar himself had crossed the border to attempt to attack one of our apprentices, who was simply hunting in our territory," Sedgestar said, his voice turning icy cold as he stared at the WindClan leader. "I ask the WindClan leader to explain this blatant disrespect for our borders and senseless act of aggression towards ShadowClan, _and_ to apologize for this indiscretion."

"You want _me_ to apologize?!" Rabbitstar said in an incredulous tone.

"I don't 'want' it, I expect it," Sedgestar said with a hint of a snarl in his voice. "You have wronged ShadowClan, and if you want this good nature that's existed between our Clans for moons to continue, you _will_ apologize."

Rabbitstar rose to his paws, baring his teeth at Sedgestar.

"I wouldn't have crossed the border if your apprentice hadn't insulted me. So, _I ask_ the ShadowClan leader to teach their apprentices more respect towards Clan leaders," Rabbitstar spat.

Rabbitstar flicked his tail downwards to indicate Frostpaw in the crowd. Frostpaw froze, feeling her muscles tense up as everyone in the gathering's attention was focused on her.

"That is the apprentice that insulted me," Rabbitstar continued. "Look at her strange fur pattern. She must be the rogue kit that you adopted into your Clan moons ago, Sedgestar, isn't she? Maybe I'd be able to respect your Clan's borders if you didn't pollute it with such trash."

Frostpaw ducked down, her heart hammering. There were a few gasps at Rabbitstar's words from cats in the other Clans, and some jeering from WindClan. Frostpaw heard the sound of furious hissing from behind her. She cast a glance back and saw Redclaw was on her paws, looking like at any moment, she might launch herself up the Great Rock to attack Rabbitstar herself.

Sedgestar raised his tail commandingly for silence, but he didn't wait for it to fall before turning on Rabbitstar, looming over the smaller tom threateningly.

"Unlike your Clan, ShadowClan respects the Warrior Code. This is why we adopted an orphaned kit in need, and it is also what keeps us from traipsing all over and across the border like you do. But, you are right about one thing, Rabbitstar… I _don't_ teach my cats to respect you. Because you are not _worthy_ of my Clan's respect," Sedgestar rumbled. "You are so cowardly that you take out your insecurities about your capabilities as leader on a young apprentice. _Pathetic._ I pity your warriors for having such a weak leader."

Shouts of outrage emerged from WindClan. Frostpaw was jostled as Autumnpaw rose to his feet beside her, turning towards the WindClan cats and bristling out his fur. Frostpaw looked around in shock. ShadowClan and WindClan were both rising to their paws, teeth and claws bared, fangs flashing. Sedgestar's amber eyes glinted threateningly in the moonlight, but he barreled on with his speech before Rabbitstar had a chance to respond, leaning in close to the ginger tom.

"But, so be it. If it's your desire for our Clans to be enemies, then it is done," Sedgestar growled. "I hope you sleep well at night, Rabbitstar. There is no need to keep watch. You won't see us coming either way."

Frostpaw blinked. Strangely, it seemed like the night was getting darker, as if the leader of ShadowClan's words had somehow summoned the shadows themselves.

"ShadowClan, we're done here," Sedgestar said, bounding off the Great Rock and into the crowd of his clan-mates.

Frostpaw hastily rose to her feet, feeling her pelt jostled on every side as ShadowClan grouped tightly together around their leader, quickly pulling away from any cats of other clans in their midst. Moving as one, ShadowClan bounded out of the clearing, scaling the hills that surrounded the hollow. At the crest of the hill, Frostpaw cast a final glance over her shoulder. The four other Clans remained down in the clearing. She saw the dark silhouettes of the leaders on top of the Great Rock, and the deputies crouched at the foot of it. Her gaze lingered on the SkyClan deputy, Paledusk. His white coat seemed to glow in the dim light, almost acting as a beacon for her gaze. After a heartbeat, Frostpaw looked away and her eyes drifted upwards from him to the sky. A narrow cloud slashed across the full moon like a claw, casting the shadow of darkness over the forest.

With a final glance at the moon, Frostpaw turned, and ShadowClan vanished into the forest.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Writing Sedgestar's sassy speech at the end of the Gathering was so much fun. I'm growing more and more fond of him the more I write, and the more his character develops haha. And, hopefully I'll be back again next week with the next chapter!_

 _Reviews:_

 _Hatakefire: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! And, I'm happy to have you reading :)_


	8. Chapter 8: Preparations

ShadowClan buzzed with anticipation in the days following the gathering. Sedgestar had near constant patrols on the WindClan border so that every tree there strongly held the mark of ShadowClan. But, it seemed like WindClan wasn't going to take the blatant signs of ShadowClan aggression lying down, and they responded with increased border patrols of their own. But, besides a few minor scraps between the ShadowClan and WindClan border patrols, the threat of battle remained on the future's horizon, looming like a storm.

Grovepelt ordered that all of the apprentices get as much battle training as possible before the inevitable clash, and so for the seventh day in a row, Frostpaw found herself trailing after Swoopstrike, along with Pinepaw, Poolpaw, Autumnpaw, and their mentors, heading towards the Burnt Sycamore.

"I can't wait to tear WindClan to shreds!" Pinepaw growled, her black fur bushed out in excitement.

"Did you see how puny they looked at the gathering?" Poolpaw asked, swatting at the air in front of him like he was fighting an invisible WindClan warrior. "I've caught squirrels bigger than them!"

"They're going to regret ever messing with ShadowClan!" Autumnpaw declared, dashing ahead from the rest of the group to be the first to enter the clearing around the Burnt Sycamore.

Poolpaw and Pinepaw were hot on his paws, but Frostpaw followed her den-mates much more slowly, hanging back with the group of mentors.

She didn't understand why they were so excited. Her stomach clenched in anxiety as she thought of the coming battle. All she could think about was her or one of her clan-mates getting hurt or killed, and she didn't see how that was something to be eager about. Frostpaw lingered at the edge of the clearing, watching the three siblings pounce about with each other.

"Not as excited as the other apprentices, huh?" Grovepelt asked Frostpaw, startling her slightly.

She blinked up at the deputy. The senior warrior looked down at her with a kind expression on his greyed, grizzled face, and Frostpaw felt a bit more at ease.

"No, I guess not," she meowed, looking back out at the tussling apprentices.

"Why?" Swoopstrike broke in with a harsh voice. "The duty of a warrior is to fight for their clan. You should be honored to battle for ShadowClan."

Frostpaw flinched, her ears flattening.

"I never said I wouldn't fight," she protested. "I—I'm just worried about anyone getting hurt."

Swoopstrike gave a derisive snort.

"Being nervous isn't a crime," Grovepelt said in a patient voice, giving Swoopstrike a pointed look.

The deputy turned to Frostpaw.

"I find, the older I get, the more worried I become before every battle," Grovepelt meowed.

"When I was a new apprentice, I was just like them." Grovepelt nodded towards the other apprentices. "Excited to fight. To prove myself. To stand up for my clan and family."

One of his ears twitched back slightly.

"In many ways, I'm still like that. I still will fight to protect my clan. But, that reckless sense of invulnerability I had as a young cat is gone."

A somber look crept across the deputy's face.

"I've seen too many friends and family pass on from this world to still feel that way," he said. "It becomes harder to sharpen your claws before battle when you can't help but wonder what friend won't be coming home afterwards."

Frostpaw gazed at Grovepelt's weathered face with a quiet sense of fear and wonder.

 _How many battles has he seen? How many friends has he lost? Did he once have a mate? Kits? Where are they now? …What happened to them?_

Grovepelt's gaze slid over to Frostpaw, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"You are still a young cat," he meowed. "But, you have experienced much more tragedy in your life than you den-mates. That's why you understand that you are not invulnerable. And, knowing that is nothing to be ashamed of. Although it does make it harder to charge into battle… when you know fully well that you can die. So, you must be braver than them."

Grovepelt nodded towards Pinepaw, Poolpaw, and Autumnpaw.

"Because they don't understand," Grovepelt said in a quiet voice. "Or, at least, not yet."

Grovepelt strode forward without another word into the training clearing.

"Stop rolling around like kits," Grovepelt said loudly, interrupting the sibling's tussle. "Battles are not a game!"

Grovepelt turned towards Frostpaw, flicking his tail at her.

"Come here. We will be doing paired fights before practicing more specific battle techniques," he meowed. "We will start with Poolpaw and Frostpaw. And, Autumnpaw and Pinepaw."

Frostpaw slowly padded over to the rest of the group, taking her place next to Poolpaw. Poolpaw squared himself up to her, fluffing out his black and white coat.

"Ready? Begin!"

The apprentices practiced fighting all morning. Frostpaw was pleased that she was able to hold her own against the slightly larger Poolpaw, but she grew a bit more nervous when around mid-morning, they switched partners, and she was paired with Pinepaw.

 _StarClan, why couldn't I have gotten Autumnpaw instead…_

The black she-cat narrowed her amber eyes at Frostpaw. Pinepaw was smaller than Poolpaw, making her and Frostpaw about the same size, although Frostpaw's longer coat gave an illusion of bulk. But, while Pinepaw didn't have size on Frostpaw, Frostpaw knew she did have a burning desire to beat her into the dust.

"I'm not going to go as easy on you as Poolpaw did, Dirtface," Pinepaw snarled in a soft voice so the mentors couldn't overhear.

Frostpaw narrowed her eyes at Pinepaw, but didn't reply.

"First apprentice to pin the other wins," Grovepelt announced to the group. "Remember, WindClan cats are small, but fast. They are most dangerous when they have the space to move around. In closer quarters though, we can easily overpower them. Keep these techniques in mind as you practice."

Frostpaw nodded. She shifted from paw to paw. Her muscles were already aching from all the wrestling with Poolpaw, but she knew she couldn't battle Pinepaw without putting up a good fight, or she'd never hear the end of it from the annoying furball.

"Begin!"

Pinepaw sprung at Frostpaw like a coiled snake. Rather than dodging her pounce, Frostpaw faced it and rolled with her as Pinepaw barreled into her chest, electing a squeak of surprise from Pinepaw at the unexpected lack of resistance.

"Come on, Frostpaw, put up a fight!" Swoopstrike snarled from the sidelines as the two of them went tumbling.

"I said _not_ to get yourself caught," Grovepelt's disapproving voice added.

Frostpaw ignored them as she and Pinepaw tumbled head over tail with the momentum from Pinepaw's spring. Frostpaw wrapped her paws around Pinepaw's shoulders, and as Frostpaw rolled back to the top of the tumble, she suddenly locked her muscles, digging her hindpaws into the soft, marshy ground. She jerkily halted the somersault and shoved her forepaws hard into Pinepaw's shoulders to pin the wiggling apprentice to the ground.

Frostpaw felt a surge of satisfaction as she stood over Pinepaw.

"…Frostpaw wins!" Grovepelt's presently surprised voice was saying when Frostpaw felt Pinepaw violently jerk under her paws, ripping herself from Frostpaw's grasp.

Pinepaw scrambled back to her paws and sprung at Frostpaw with a snarl, her paws flashing with blows. Frostpaw ducked, her ears stinging as Pinepaw's paws swiped them.

"Stop that! Did you hear? Frostpaw won!" Frostpaw heard Swoopstrike snap.

"It's alright, Swoopstrike," Frostpaw heard Grovepelt reply. "Let's see how this turns out."

Frostpaw set her jaw.

 _Fine. Pinepaw wants a rematch, so I'll give her one._

Frostpaw sprung out of Pinepaw's reach, dodging back towards the Burnt Sycamore to give herself a moment to breathe, but Pinepaw was relentless, following Frostpaw. Frostpaw swiped at paw at Pinepaw's muzzle, but the she cat dodged and retaliated with a sweeping lash of her forepaws, knocking Frostpaw's legs out from under her.

"Oomph!" Frostpaw's breath was knocked out of her as she hit the ground, but she quickly scrambled back to her paws.

Frostpaw saw Pinepaw crouching, preparing to leap on to her and pin her to the ground. Frostpaw's gaze quickly flashed as she looked around for an escape route. Her eyes settled on the old knobby branch several tail lengths above her head. And, as Pinepaw leapt, so did Frostpaw. Frostpaw slightly startled herself with the height of her leap upwards as she easily sprung onto the branch of the tree, digging her claws into the old, burnt bark for purchase.

Pinepaw gaped up at Frostpaw, her brow furrowing.

"Hey! That's cheatin—ow!"

Pinepaw was cut off as Frostpaw dropped back down on her from the tree and the two of them went tumbling again. Frostpaw nipped at Pinepaw's paw as they rolled, and she could feel Pinepaw batting at her belly with her paws. Frostpaw twisted, trying to escape Pinepaw's grasp, but the she-cat had twisted her paws deep into Frostpaw's long fur and dug in tight.

Frostpaw gasped as Pinepaw yanked on her fur, her skin stinging from the tug. With a final powerful surge, Frostpaw managed to yank herself free, although she left a few clumps of fur behind in Pinepaw's paws.

With an annoyed growl at her burning pelt, Frostpaw darted forward to swipe at Pinepaw's ears, but she ducked. Frostpaw quickly retaliated with another downward strike on Pinepaw's head, but the blow was grazing. Pinepaw snapped at Frostpaw's ankle as she pulled her paw back away.

Frostpaw's gaze slid around Pinepaw and her eyes narrowed as she noticed she and Pinepaw had switched positions, so now the other apprentice was closer to the Burnt Sycamore.

 _I can limit her attacks if I trap her against the roots._

Frostpaw flashed forward with a snarl, swiping a paw at Pinepaw's face. Pinepaw flinched backwards to dodge, and Frostpaw followed her, pressing her relentlessly to herd her towards the Burnt Sycamore. Pinepaw let out a quiet squeak of surprise when she went to take another step back away and her hindquarters bumped the twisted roots of the tree.

 _I've got her!_ Frostpaw thought, flashing forward again with another blow.

But, to her surprise, Pinepaw wasn't going to give in that easily, and the black-furred she-cat made a wild leap at Frostpaw, bowling her over. Frostpaw gasped in pain as Pinepaw kicked her stomach as they flailed and tumbled. But, it was Pinepaw who ended up on top this time, shoving Frostpaw to the ground with a growl.

"I win," Pinepaw snarled.

"That's enough," Grovepelt's voice rang out.

Pinepaw loosened her grip, and Frostpaw quickly shrugged Pinepaw off of her, pulling herself back to her paws. Frostpaw and Pinepaw stumbled away from each other, both panting. Frostpaw eyed her opponent, making sure that she wasn't going to spring at her again.

Grovepelt padded up to the two of them. He nodded approvingly at Frostpaw.

"Well done with that first round, Frostpaw, and with thinking about leaping onto the tree. A good surprise can often be the best attack. I expect one day you'll be expert at our shadow ambushes," Grovepelt meowed.

Frostpaw felt her chest puff out in pride at the comment, her stinging pelt from her yanked fur fading from her mind.

"Although your strikes need some work. They are messy, like you're indecisive about where to hit. Strike with conviction, don't hesitate," Grovepelt added.

Frostpaw dipped her head to the deputy.

"Yes, Grovepelt," she meowed.

Grovepelt turned to Pinepaw.

"You have a lot of spirit, and you never give up, which is a brilliant trait in a warrior," he said. "But, you need to learn to be more observant of both your surrounds and your enemy. Frostpaw used her environment to her advantage, and that is a vital component to winning a battle. And, as for observing your enemy, if you can gauge your enemy's attacks then you can guess what they will do next. Watch their eyes. Where their gazes go often betray their thoughts."

Pinepaw dipped her head.

"Yes, Grovepelt," she mumbled, tail-tip twitching.

"You've all done very well," Grovepelt said, raising his voice and turning towards Autumnpaw and Poolpaw, who had also stopped practice fighting to address them too. "We will head back to camp and take a break for now. See to it that Snakeeyes and Amberberry are fed, as well as the elders, then get some fresh-kill for yourselves. You all deserve it."

Swoopstrike approached Frostpaw as Grovepelt headed off in the direction of camp.

"We'll practice your strikes together this afternoon," Swoopstrike grumbled. "But... good job."

"Thank you," Frostpaw said, her tail curling up slightly.

Swoopstrike gave a curt nod and strode away after Grovepelt.

Autumnpaw bounded up to Pinepaw and Frostpaw, his amber eyes excited.

"Did you see me shove Poolpaw's muzzle into the ground?" Autumnpaw meowed, snickering. "I think he swallowed some mud!"

Pinepaw just huffed instead of replying, shoving past the two of them and striding off after Poolpaw and the mentors in the direction of camp. Frostpaw flinched as Pinepaw slapped her face with her tail as she walked by her.

"No, I missed it," Frostpaw said to Autumnpaw as the two of them padded off after them, making up the rear of the patrol.

But, Autumnpaw didn't seem to be listening to her. He was watching Pinepaw stride away from them with a furrowed brow.

"Hey, what's got your fur in a twist!" Autumnpaw meowed to her back.

Pinepaw shot them a scorching look from over her shoulder.

"That _rogue,"_ Pinepaw hissed. "Embarrassed me in front of Grovepelt!"

Frostpaw's ears flattened.

"What are you talking about?" Frostpaw argued. "You won the last round!"

Pinepaw just snarled instead of replying.

"Yeah," Autumnpaw chimed in. "I heard him say that you both did good jobs! He complimented you!"

Pinepaw stopped walking, turning to hiss at the two of them, baring her fangs.

"How dare you defend her! You don't understand!" Pinepaw spat. "Grovepelt is the deputy _and_ my mentor. I have to impress him! But, instead I let myself be beaten by _a rogue_! How is that not embarrassing?! What is he going to think of me now!"

"Stop calling her that," Autumnpaw snapped, the dark ginger fur down his back prickling in irritation.

"I'm not a rogue," Frostpaw growled quietly, breaking in. "I've lived in ShadowClan almost as long as you. And, I've been training exactly as long as you have! Why would you expect to be a better fighter than me?"

Pinepaw just growled in response to her question.

"Just because you live here now, doesn't make you one of us," she spat.

Pinepaw whirled around and ran off into the forest.

It was close to sun-high by the time Autumnpaw and Frostpaw made it back to camp. The rest of their group had arrived a little before them, and Poolpaw trotted up to Autumnpaw and Frostpaw with two frogs in his jaws.

"Pinepaw and I have the elders if you two want to take the nursery," Poolpaw mumbled around the fresh-kill in his mouth. "It's probably for the best if we split up. I don't know what happened, but the way Pinepaw looks right now, she'll kill you both if she sees you."

"The nursery is fine with me," Autumnpaw meowed with a twitch of his tail.

Autumnpaw and Frostpaw headed to the fresh-kill pile. He grabbed a squirrel and Frostpaw picked up two mice before the two of them padded over to the thorn bush that sheltered the nursery. As they padded towards the entrance, they had to dodge back as Rowanheart brushed his way out, emerging suddenly from the den.

"Are those for the queens?" he asked.

Frostpaw and Autumnpaw nodded, mouths too full to speak.

"Great!" Rowanheart said, his eyes lighting up. "Snakeeyes just had our kits this morning! I bet she's starving! Let's go in! I'll show you them!"

Frostpaw's irritation towards Pinepaw faded some in the face of Rowanheart's clear joy about his new family. Frostpaw purred and followed Rowanheart into the den.

Rowanheart led the way towards Snakeeye's nest. The white-furred queen was curled up, evidently sleeping, but she stirred as her mate approached.

"Back so soon?" she murmured in a playful voice. "I thought you had patrols to be on. Or, is Sedgestar giving you the day off in honor of the birth of his grandkits?"

"I'm heading off soon," Rowanheart said with a purr, gently head-butting his mate's side. "But, I ran into these apprentices with fresh-kill, and I wanted to show them our kits!"

Frostpaw padded up to Snakeeyes, dropping the mice she was caring at her paws. Snakeeyes' blue and green gaze flickered to Frostpaw.

"Hello, Frostpaw," she said with a friendly blink. "Thank you for the mice. Would you like to see the kits?"

"Yes," Frostpaw purred.

Snakeeyes moved her tail, revealing three tiny kits at her belly. Frostpaw purred happily at the sight of the cute, healthy kittens.

"This is Featherkit," Snakeeyes said, gently laying a paw on a fluffy mostly white she-kit with calico patches.

"That's Yewkit," Rowanheart said, leaning over to rasp his tongue over a striped orange and white tom.

"And, this is Lizardkit," Snakeeyes purred, touching her last kit, an all white tom.

"They are very cute!" Frostpaw purred.

"Maybe we can be their mentors when they become apprentices!" Autumnpaw said excitedly, padding over to Frostpaw to gaze down at the new-born kits after delivering the fresh-kill he brought to Amberberry.

"But, why would Sedgestar pick us?" Frostpaw asked. "When they are made apprentices, we'll have been warriors for less than a moon!"

Autumnpaw nudged Frostpaw's shoulder with his muzzle.

"Don't be such a downer!" Autumnpaw teased. "We can always hope!"

Frostpaw and Autumnpaw left the nursery after the fresh-kill had been delivered to the queens, although Rowanheart lingered behind, evidently reluctant to leave his mate and kits again and head out on that patrol.

As Frostpaw and Autumnpaw headed back towards the fresh-kill pile to grab some food for themselves, Frostpaw found her mind stuck on Snakeeyes, Rowanheart and their kits. Seeing the little family together, Frostpaw couldn't help but thinking about her own mother. And, the mystery of how Paledusk knew her.

 _I remember when I was a tiny kit, May was living on her own. While she was living like that, there's no reason to think that she didn't bump into clan cats like Paledusk from time to time._

But, Frostpaw remembered the way Paledusk looked at her. It wasn't just a look of surprise at seeing an old friend or acquaintance. He looked at her like he had just seen someone come back from the dead.

Frostpaw wasn't stupid, and knew there was another option. The reason that he was so shocked. She had never met her father, and had always assumed him to be another rogue… but just maybe…

Frostpaw shook her head.

 _But, if Paledusk is my father, then why am I in ShadowClan? Why wouldn't I be in SkyClan with him? May would've went to him when she needed help._

It didn't make any sense. In the faint memories Frostpaw had of when May talked about her father, her words were always fond. If May had been able to take Frostpaw to him, why wouldn't she?

Frostpaw's tail twitched anxiously.

 _Maybe he didn't know about me? Did May not tell him?_

Frostpaw clenched her jaw.

 _Would May do that?_

Frostpaw wanted to wail in frustration.

An image of May appeared in Frostpaw's mind.

It was true that Frostpaw hadn't known her mother long, but she always had loved her fiercely, and when they had been together, Frostpaw had felt like she could unequivocally rely on her. But, now Frostpaw felt betrayed. Her mother had died and left her here alone. And, not only that, she had left her with this mystery hanging over her head. What if Paledusk was her father? Frostpaw had enough problems trying to get her clan-mates to trust her without having to worry about them thinking she would betray them to Paledusk and SkyClan at a twitch of a whisker.

Frostpaw imagined confronting her mother.

 _"Why did you do this to me?"_ Frostpaw hissed in her mind at May.

The image of May in her head just gazed at Frostpaw with sad blue eyes.

"Are you alright?" Autumnpaw's meow cut through Frostpaw's thoughts.

They had reached the fresh-kill pile, and Frostpaw realized that she had been digging her claws into the marshy ground. Frostpaw shook her head, shaking off her thoughts like clinging cobwebs.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about WindClan," Frostpaw mumbled the lie.

She couldn't risk telling Autumnpaw her real thoughts. What if he found out that Paledusk might be her father, and then he didn't trust her? Autumnpaw was her only true friend in the Clan; Frostpaw couldn't lose him.

Autumnpaw blinked at her sympathetically.

"Don't worry. Once we're through with those rabbit-brains, they'll be so scared of ShadowClan that they won't ever bother you again," Autumnpaw said, giving a quiet growl.

Frostpaw nodded along with his words, although she wasn't sure that hostile WindClan was the biggest of her problems. Frostpaw chose a mouse to eat, and Autumnpaw picked a lizard for himself. They carried their food over to the edge of the camp and settled down to eat on one of the more grassy patches in the camp to keep their fur from getting too damp from the marshy ground. Frostpaw tried to keep her thoughts off of May and Paledusk as she ate, not wanting Autumnpaw to question her on her emotions again. She was soon properly distracted when Autumnpaw flicked his tail to draw her attention to Grovepelt and Sedgestar. The leader and deputy had just emerged from Sedgestar's den beneath the Oak Tree, and their heads were bent closely together in earnest conversation. Sedgestar finished the discussion with a firm nod to Grovepelt before turning and bounding up the side of Clanrock while Grovepelt settled at the base.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gathering beneath Clanrock for a Clan meeting!" Sedgestar yowled, settling down on the boulder.

Frostpaw's ears twitched up in interest, and she rose from her crouched position over her half-eaten mouse to gaze up at ShadowClan's leader. Frostpaw saw the moss covering the medicine cats' den at the base of Clanrock sway as Clearstream and Elmclaw pushed their way out of it, settling down in the clearing. The rest of their clan-mates followed, appearing out of dens or looking up from sharing tongues or prey. Rowanheart emerged from the nursery, taking a seat a few tail-lengths away from its entrance. Frostpaw spotted Pinepaw and Poolpaw appearing from the elders' den, followed by the elders themselves.

Frostpaw noticed that there were a few warriors missing from camp who must be out on patrol, but most of the cats were in camp. Sun-high was ShadowClan's least favorite time to be out of camp. It was when the day was the brightest and the hottest, so they much preferred to nap, eat, and share-tongues, saving their energy for late night patrols and hunts. But, Frostpaw figured with the increased patrolling on the WindClan border, Sedgestar had cats out even at sun-high.

Sedgestar's short fur ruffled in the cool breeze that blew through the ShadowClan camp as he gazed down at his clan-mates from Clanrock.

"As you all know, WindClan grows more aggressive on our borders each passing day," Sedgestar said. "The time is approaching for our attack. We cannot wait much longer and potentially give them the chance to strike first."

ShadowClan yowled their agreement, some cats leaping to their paws in eagerness. Sedgestar waved his tail for silence.

"I've been in close discussion with Grovepelt, Clearstream, Elmclaw and some of our clan's senior warriors, and we've come up with a plan. We will wait for the next cloudy night, when there are no moon or stars to see by, and then we will strike," he said. "First, we will launch an attack on their camp. _But,_ I want no WindClan nursing queens, kits, elders or medicine cats to be harmed, understood? Don't go into those dens. We are teaching WindClan a lesson about who is the stronger clan, not seeking to harm innocents."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement.

"We won't linger in their camp long. After we attack the camp and give them a good scuffle, I want to raid their fresh-kill pile. We'll grab as much food as we can carry and run back to our border. I expect WindClan will be incensed, and they will follow us there. But, that's where we will have a second patrol waiting, where we will ambush them again," Sedgestar finished.

"Who's going to be on the camp attacking patrol?" Thornheart called out, his tail held high in excitement.

"I will assign cats when the night comes," Sedgestar said, his amber eyes gleaming in the sun-light. "For the next few days, everyone keep up duties as normal, and make sure you are getting plenty of fresh-kill and rest. I want everyone in prime shape when the time is right."

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Sorry this chapter was put out a few days later than I intended. I got busy with visiting family last week, which put my writing a little behind. To all the Americans out there, I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!_

 _I also wanted to say that I'm just really liking writing Sedgestar's character. One of the reasons that I wanted to set this story in ShadowClan rather than having Frostpaw being left in any of the other Clans is that I feel like in the books, ShadowClan cats are always the default "bad guys" with their leader being like the "Big Bad." Which I think is silly, like why do they always have to be the evil ones? There's nothing inherently wrong with being ShadowClan, right? And, I'm just having a lot of fun making them the protagonists and crafting a ShadowClan leader that is like the epitome of what ShadowClan is described to be— proud, independent, not afraid to fight. But, also wise, clever, fiercely loyal to his own, and not dumb or just straight up evil for no reason. Anyways, small speech over, thanks for reading, see you next chapter!_

 _Reviews:_

 _Mad Hat Dragon: Thank you! And, I'm so happy to hear that you also enjoyed Silk's Reign and Lightning's Destiny. I don't think I will return to Silk's Reign because I feel like I've told all of her story that I wanted to. But, as for Lightning's Destiny, I'm still on the fence about if I want to do a sequel for it or not. At times I really miss writing about Lightningfire and Wolfshade, but as of right now I don't have any good ideas in mind for a sequel plot. Although, I've been toying with the idea of maybe writing a story with their kits as main characters… I don't know if it'll actually happen though because I've got several other more fleshed out warrior stories in mind that I want to get to :)_

 _BrightMind: Thanks! Paledusk and Frostpaw won't see each other for a little bit since we have to deal with this WindClan drama first. But, we are definitely getting a ShadowClan/WindClan showdown next chapter!_

 _Brian.H.H: Thanks so much! And, good question! In the short story "A Leader Who Sought Peace," which this story is based off of in the field guide "Battles of the Clans," when Morningstar is begging the other Clans for food, Sedgestar has this line about how ShadowClan is bigger than the other clans, so they have no food to spare. But, they also didn't seem particularly aggressive about exploiting ThunderClan for prey (like how WindClan was.) So, I took that to be that to mean that ShadowClan right now is bigger than the other clans, but not so big that their territory can't sustain them (so like the other clans are unusually small.) They, however, are definitely heading that way now in my story. Currently in the story, though, it's late new-leaf/early green-leaf, so prey is running well, and they won't have to worry about it too much yet. But, as winter approaches, the lack of prey is definitely going to be an issue for them. (Which Sedgestar is already well aware of. He is not one to pass up an opportunity for free prey, which is why he ordered a raid on WindClan's fresh-kill pile.)_

 _Kitty-Guardian Dorothy: Lol yeah no other leader can throw a sassy smack down like Sedgestar!_


	9. Chapter 9: The Ambush

"Today's the day I think," Autumnpaw said, his voice hushed but excited, and his amber gaze flickering up towards the overcast sky.

Frostpaw followed his gaze upwards towards the grey sky, wondering if Autumnpaw was right and the cloud cover would hold into the night, or if the battle would be put off again. It had been three sunrises since Sedgestar's announcement, and until now, the days and nights had been clear. But, today the sky had been dark with clouds since morning, with rain drizzling on and off. Now, as best Frostpaw could guess, it must be around sun-high, but the clouds still stretched from horizon to horizon, without a patch of blue to be seen.

"Maybe," Frostpaw murmured in response, her tail tip twitching nervously as she thought of the impending battle.

"I bet Sedgestar makes an announcement soon," Autumnpaw said, bending his head down to tear a chunk out of the lizard he was eating.

"So the cats chosen to fight can get ready," he continued, mumbling around the meat in his mouth.

Frostpaw looked down at the half-eaten startling at her paws, suddenly not feeling as hungry any more.

"Hey," Autumnpaw said, nudging her shoulder with his muzzle. "Stop looking so concerned! It'll be fine! First of all, we have way more cats than WindClan. Second: it's WindClan! They're small and weak and cowardly. The battle will be a breeze."

Frostpaw just nodded instead of replying, bending her head down, she forced herself to eat the rest of her meal.

XXXX

"There is tale of a terrible disease," Greytail rasped, blinking her old watery eyes at Autumnpaw and Frostpaw, who listened raptly as they patted the clean moss, pine needles, and feathers that they brought into the elders' den into fresh nests. "That takes root in a cat's mind and drives them mad."

Autumnpaw and Frostpaw finished arranging the moss, but instead of leaving since their chore was finished, they settled down, watching Greytail intently as she began the story.

"Many, many moons ago, there was a ShadowClan warrior that, through a terrible accident, became faceless. That same accident that ruined his face also introduced the disease that ruined his mind," Greytail murmured, sweeping a gaze over the apprentices which was frighteningly intense. "And, thus began the most terrifying period of ShadowClan history. One of our own warriors, turned against his clan-mates, against all cats! He did unspeakable horrors to ShadowClan, and the rivers of blood that soaked the ground during those moons can still be felt to this day on cold leaf-bare nights. When you are hunting alone in the pines, you can feel it sticking to your paws… And, you can almost feel his cold, predatory gaze watching you—"

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath Clanrock for a Clan meeting!" Sedgestar's words rang out through the camp, echoing into the elder's den.

Frostpaw jumped in fright at the sudden sound of the leader's voice, torn from the elder's story and back into reality. Autumnpaw's head snapped up, and he gasped.

"It must be about the battle with WindClan!" he said, his eyes alight with excitement, springing to his paws.

"You two young-uns better get going then," Greytail said with a rough purr. "I'll finish the tale about the faceless cat another time."

"Thanks Greytail!" Autumnpaw said, waving his tail at her in goodbye as he left the den. "Frostpaw, come on!"

Frostpaw rose to her paws and with a quick nod to Greytail, she followed Autumnpaw outside.

Autumnpaw and Frostpaw sat down a few tail-lengths away from the entrance to the elders' den. Frostpaw gazed up at Sedgestar as he waited for everyone to settle in before beginning his announcement.

Sedgestar cleared his throat.

"The cloud cover seems to be holding through the day," he began. "If it continues through the night, it will be perfect conditions for our battle. If it turns out that the clouds lift before sundown, I will reevaluate, but for now, we will continue on as if tonight is the night we fight."

There were excited shouts at Sedgestar's words, and he nodded his head with a pleased expression.

"I will now assign cats to the battle patrols. I will be leading the patrol which attacks the WindClan camp. With me, I will take Emberflower, Kestrelmoon, Fogfur, Marshnose, Thornheart, Damppaw, and Dewpaw."

"Darkpelt will lead the patrol that ambushes WindClan at the border. He will take Dustleap, Larkfoot, Weaseltail, Beeclaw, Swoopstrike, Pinepaw, Poolpaw, Autumnpaw, and Frostpaw."

Frostpaw felt her stomach flip as Sedgestar said her name.

"Grovepelt will remain here and be in charge until I return. The rest of the warriors, Rowanheart, Redclaw, Hootflight, Dawntail, Dappledpelt, and Leafbreeze are to remain in camp as well. Guard the kits and elders from possible WindClan retaliation. Although I anticipate that they will be too busy with us to make it here."

More eager shouts and snarls met Sedgestar's words. He waved his tail to silence them and carried on.

"Those named to be on the battle patrols be sure to rest and eat. We will leave camp just after sundown. This meeting is adjourned, but cats in my patrol, come see me to discuss our attack plans, and cats in Darkpelt's patrol, go see him."

Sedgestar bounded off of Clanrock to take a seat at its base, where the cats in his patrol padded over to meet him. Darkpelt headed over to the other side of camp, closer to the thorn tunnel. Autumnpaw and Frostpaw met up with Poolpaw and Pinepaw on their way over to Darkpelt.

"Why do we have to be on the ambush patrol?" Poolpaw complained, his tail drooping as they padded over to where their patrol was gathering. "I want to attack the WindClan camp with Fogfur! Why were Damppaw and Dewpaw chosen but not us?"

"Because they have been training for like five moons more than we have, frog-brain!" Pinepaw snapped at Poolpaw. "And, Damppaw is a way better fighter than you anyway!"

Poolpaw's brow furrowed.

"Nuh-uh. Damppaw just _thinks_ his a brilliant fighter. But, I bet I could take him," Poolpaw sniffed.

"Stop your complaining," a voice snapped.

Poolpaw jumped as Swoopstrike appeared near the apprentices, evidently having overheard their conversation.

"You should just be happy that Sedgestar decided to pick you at all instead of leaving you at camp," Swoopstrike said, narrowing his eyes at Poolpaw. "So, keep your jaws shut."

"Yes, Swoopstrike," Poolpaw muttered.

With an irritable tail-twitch, the warrior stalked off, taking a seat next to Darkpelt. Darkpelt waited for everyone to gather close before he began.

"We will lay the ambush just beyond the tree-line, a little across the border, in WindClan territory," the broad shouldered warrior rumbled in a deep voice, wasting no time with small talk.

The black tom scored a single claw across the dirt in front of him. Frostpaw peered at the line in the dirt curiously.

"This is the border," Darkpelt explained, nodding at the line when he glanced over and noticed Frostpaw's furrowed brow.

"We will disguise our scents and then hide ourselves in the tall moor grass and wait for Sedgestar's patrol to lure WindClan over," Darkpelt continued. "Our patrol will be split into two flanks…"

Darkpelt looked around at the ground surrounding him and picked out two small pebbles from the dirt. Darkpelt placed the pebbles on one side on the line with a paw-length's distance between the two.

"These two pebbles are our two groups hidden on the WindClan side of the border. We will leave some distance between our groups," he explained. "Does anyone see a twig anywhere?"

Poolpaw found a stick next to him and tossed it to Darkpelt.

"Thanks," Darkpelt said, batting the twig to the opposite side of the line that the pebbles were on, positioning it so it was aligned with the gap between the two pebbles.

"Do you all know where the fallen tree is on the tree-line? That tree will be in the gap between where our two groups are located," Darkpelt said. "Sedgestar's patrol will come running over across the moor, and run straight for that fallen tree, going in between where our groups are hidden to get there. WindClan will be chasing them, so they will follow them to the fallen tree by running between our two patrols."

Darkpelt dragged a claw slowly across the ground, perpendicular to the first line he drew. He dragged his claw in between the two pebbles, across the border line, and to the twig, where he stopped.

"But, once the last WindClan cat makes it through the passage between our patrols, I will yowl the signal to attack. At that point, Sedgestar's patrol will turn to fight WindClan. Our groups will then flank WindClan and attack them from both sides and from behind, cutting off their route of escape back into their own territory," Darkpelt said, shoving the pebbles towards the twig with his paw. "And with Sedgestar's patrol fighting from the front, the WindClan patrol will be completely encircled."

Darkpelt paused, looking up from the pebbles and lines he drew on the ground to scan the faces of the cats around him. Frostpaw's eyes were wide as she tried to visualize the layout of the battle that he was proposing.

 _I didn't realize battles involved so much planning…_

"Any questions?" Darkpelt asked.

"Who will be in what group?" Weaseltail asked.

"Larkfoot, Beeclaw, Poolpaw, and Autumnpaw can be with me," Darkpelt meowed. "And, Weaseltail, Dustleap, Swoopstrike, Frostpaw and Pinepaw can be the other group."

Darkpelt turned to look at the group of apprentices.

"I know you four haven't been training long, but Sedgestar thinks this'll be a good opportunity for you all to get your first tastes of battle," Darkpelt said in his rumbling voice. "However, that doesn't mean that you need to take unnecessary risks. We have the numbers on WindClan, so there is no need for any of you to fight alone. Poolpaw and Autumnpaw are to stay close to each other. Beeclaw will be responsible for keeping an eye on you both. And, Frostpaw and Pinepaw will be paired and will be watched by Swoopstrike. Understood?"

Frostpaw and the other apprentices nodded. Frostpaw shot a look at Pinepaw out of the corner of her eye, her gaze uncertain. Would Pinepaw really have her back in the battle? Frostpaw wasn't sure that Pinepaw would disobey direct orders from Darkpelt, and indirectly, Sedgestar himself, but the she-cat did seem to detest Frostpaw an awful lot. Pinepaw's expression was unreadable as she gazed up at Darkpelt, and Frostpaw looked away.

"Good," Darkpelt said. "That's all. Now rest and eat like Sedgestar said. We'll meet back here in the middle of camp at sundown."

As the group dispersed, Redclaw and Weaseltail padded up to the group of apprentices.

"Remember your training and look out for each other," Redclaw said, bending her head to nose Poolpaw's fluffy black and white side a little roughly.

"We will Redclaw," Poolpaw huffed, a bit of exasperation in his voice as he shied away from his mother.

"We've been training non-stop for days for this," Autumnpaw added.

"Yeah, we can beat WindClan. No problem," Pinepaw meowed, raising her chin.

Redclaw nodded.

"Good," she said a bit curtly. "Go on and eat then. Good luck to all of you."

Autumnpaw, Pinepaw, and Poolpaw headed off for the fresh-kill pile, chattering together excitedly about the battle, but Frostpaw lingered near Redclaw and Weaseltail. Frostpaw saw that Redclaw was watching her kits walk away from her with a slightly pained gaze. Frostpaw studied her eyes. She got the sense that deep down Redclaw wished that they hadn't been chosen to fight, but she wouldn't admit it out loud.

 _Because Redclaw must know that she can't stop her kits from growing up and facing the dangers of the world._

Frostpaw's tail drooped slightly, her thoughts turning to May.

 _May wasn't even around long enough to have this conflict with me._

Frostpaw hesitantly padded over to Redclaw's side. Redclaw's ears pricked in surprise as Frostpaw gave a soft, comforting purr and rubbed the length of her body along the warrior's.

"Everything will be okay, Redclaw," Frostpaw meowed in a quiet voice.

Redclaw blinked big green eyes that welled with sudden emotion at Frostpaw.

"Thank you, Frostpaw. You always were my sweetest kit," Redclaw murmured, gently touching her nose to Frostpaw's ear. "You should go eat too though. I'll be fine."

Frostpaw nodded and padded off to join the others. As she walked away, she heard Weaseltail murmur to Redclaw from behind her.

"I'll watch out for them," he said.

"I know you will," Redclaw whispered in reply, giving a small sigh.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Frostpaw. It was one of the least eventful that she'd had since she began training. After Sedgestar's announcement she ate, then she slept.

She hadn't thought she'd be able to rest when she first curled up in her nest, with the incoming battle looming over her, but, strangely, Frostpaw didn't feel the whole stressed of it yet. She figured that the reality of the situation must not have fully set in. And, so as soon as her eyes shut, sleep rolled over her like a dark wave.

When she awoke, it was nearing sundown. Frostpaw silently groomed herself in her nest; she and Dewpaw, who was still sleeping, were the only apprentices left in the den. After Frostpaw's pelt had been flattened to her liking, she padded out of the apprentices' den, and headed to a puddle at the edge of the camp to lap up some water that had collected from the rainfall today. It wasn't raining now, but Frostpaw noticed the sky was still cloudy as it was early, albeit darker since the sun must now be sinking towards the horizon.

Frostpaw raised her head, licking the last of the cool water droplets from her lips. An unusual amount of cats were milling around camp for the time of day. The cats chosen by Sedgestar to stay in camp had returned from the patrols they had gone on earlier, and the cats chosen to battle hadn't yet left. The mood felt quiet and subdued; Frostpaw saw cats only spoke to each other in hushed tones. Gazes and expressions were serious. Frostpaw's ears pricked as she noticed Elmclaw padding over to her, carrying some herbs in his mouth. He dropped a few leaves on the ground in front of Frostpaw.

"Eat. They will give you strength and keep you from getting tired," the medicine cat muttered around the leaves still clutched in his jaws.

"Thank you," Frostpaw murmured, obediently bending her head to lap up the bitter tasting leaves.

When Frostpaw raised her head back up, Elmclaw had already moved on to give herbs to the next cat.

It wasn't long until Sedgestar emerged from his den with Clearstream. Sedgestar departed from the medicine cat with a head dip, striding into the center of camp, where he paused. Conversations stopped as cats crowded around him, eyes alert and ears pricked.

"Ready?" Sedgestar meowed, his gaze sliding across his clan-mates.

Firm nods greeted his answer, tails raising. Frostpaw's stomach flipped with nerves as she sought the cats in her patrol out in the crowd, moving to stand next to Weaseltail and Autumnpaw. Autumnpaw gave her an enthusiastic bump in the shoulder, his amber eyes gleaming.

The patrols started to form out from the crowd. Frostpaw's group clustered around Darkpelt, and Sedgestar's patrol gathered near him. Frostpaw spotted Dewpaw in Sedgestar's patrol, quickly choking down herbs after being roused from her long nap. The cats that were remaining in camp hung further back. Frostpaw saw Redclaw there, watching her mate and kits with a carefully unreadable expression.

Grovepelt padded through the crowd over to Sedgestar. Sedgestar gave him a confident nod as the deputy approached him.

"Protect the camp, Grovepelt," Sedgestar meowed.

"Of course I will," Grovepelt replied in a quiet voice.

Grovepelt padded up to the leader's side, resting his thin pale brown tail on Sedgestar's shoulders.

"And, you stay safe, Sedgestar," Grovepelt murmured.

Sedgestar blinked his amber eyes affectionately at his former mentor.

"Don't worry about me, old friend," Sedgestar said with a quiet rumbling purr. "I have many lives left. You won't have to take my place just yet."

Sedgestar looked away from Grovepelt, sweeping his powerful gaze over all of the cats in camp. He raised his chin to address his clan.

"ShadowClan! To me!" Sedgestar shouted, waving his long brown-striped tail before turning and charging out of camp through the thorn tunnel.

The cats that were to remain to guard the camp as well as the queens and elders raised their voices in a supportive cry, cheering the cats chosen to battle on as the patrols streamed out of the camp in a single file line through the tunnel.

Before it was Frostpaw's turn to run through the tunnel, she cast a final glance back at the camp. Everyone was still cheering, their heads tilted back in the yowling cry. Everyone expect for Grovepelt, who still stood in the center of camp. He watched his departing clan-mates with his chin held high in a proud expression, but his old, deep-green eyes were tinged with sadness.

Grovepelt's words echoed in Frostpaw's ears.

 _"It becomes harder to sharpen your claws before battle when you can't help but wonder what friend won't be coming home afterwards."_

Frostpaw shivered slightly, but she still turned and ran out of camp.

XXXX

ShadowClan crept through the dark pines. The forest had quickly turned pitch black as the last of the sunlight which had spent the day fighting the clouds finally surrendered as it became night. Sedgestar's and Darkpelt's patrols traveled together for a little while. Sedgestar led his clan to some toadstool patches that every cat took turns rolling in to disguise their ShadowClan scents.

"WindClan will be very surprised when they realize that they're being hunted by a bunch of mushrooms," Sedgestar said, and the patrols purred with amusement.

Soon enough though, it became time for the two patrols to part. Sedgestar's patrol was heading to the tunnel to enter into the heart of WindClan territory undetected, but Darkpelt's patrol had to finish the journey through the forest to the fallen tree at the WindClan border.

"Keep your eyes bright and your claws sharp," Sedgestar meowed to Darkpelt's patrol.

Although Sedgestar was only a few tail-lengths away from Frostpaw, most of his shape was lost in the deep shadows under the pines; Frostpaw could only make out the slight glint of his reflective eyes.

"I will see you all very soon."

Sedgestar turned and led his patrol away, the cats quickly vanishing into the darkness.

The rest of the journey to the moor was done in silence. Frostpaw padded closely to Autumnpaw, comforted by the occasional brush of his flank.

After a little while longer of walking, the trees started to thin, and soon Frostpaw could see the moor grass waving gently in the warm night's breeze between the trunks of the pines. She could also see the fallen pine at the edge of the moor, the location that their ambush plan rested on.

Darkpelt led the group to the fallen pine, where he paused under the cover of the trees. He split their patrol with a flick of his tail. Autumnpaw gave Frostpaw a small nod before heading over to join Darkpelt's group, while Frostpaw went over to Swoopstrike and Pinepaw and her group. Darkpelt gestured with his tail towards the moor indicate for them to take their positions hidden out in the grass. Darkpelt led his group to take up position on the right of the fallen tree, leaving the group Frostpaw was in to take the left. Frostpaw crept out into the moor grass hesitantly, sucking in a quiet, hissing breath as her paws crossed the strong scent markers at the edge of the moor and entered into WindClan territory. Weaseltail led their group into the correct position in the grass, leaving the required amount of space between their group and Darkpelt's. Darkpelt's very shadowed form nodded at them from a few boulder-lengths away, approving their positioning before lowering his tail to gesture them to get down. Frostpaw and everyone else crouched down in the tall moor grass, and the ShadowClan patrol disappeared from sight.

Frostpaw felt tension thrum through her as she waited, her form easily hidden by the tall, dense strands of grass. The night was totally still and silent around her. The dark clouds swirled soundlessly above, and every so often, only the sound of an owl hooting would break the stillness that hung over the night. Frostpaw could almost image that she was the only cat on earth, lost in a sea of moor grass, which stretched as far as she could see in the darkness in every direction around her. But, Frostpaw knew that many other cats were hidden in the grass with her close by, some might be as close as a tail-length away, although she had no way of telling. Just as Sedgestar wanted, the cloud cover meant it was very hard to see through the grass with such little light, and the toadstools that the ShadowClan patrol had rolled in was doing a great job at disguising their cat-scents.

Now all that was left to do was wait for their carefully planned trap to be sprung.

The sound of faint, furious yowling echoing across the hills was the first sign of the approaching patrol. The yowls grew increasingly louder, and they were soon joined by the sound of pounding footsteps. But, from Frostpaw's hidden crouch, she still could not see any of her clan-mates through the thick blanket of moor grass that surrounded her. It wasn't until the retreating ShadowClan patrol was only a few tail lengths away that she could make out the dark forms of cats streaming through the tall grass. Sedgestar's patrol ran through where Darkpelt's patrols were hiding, with WindClan prey clutched in their jaws, spiriting towards the fallen tree at the tree-line, just as planned. Sedgestar himself was the last cat in the ShadowClan patrol. Frostpaw could just barely make out his deeply shadowed head, shoulders and back peeking out from above the tall grass as he ran. A WindClan hare hung from his jaws, and he twisted his head over his shoulder to shout behind him without slowing his stride.

"And you call yourselves the fastest cats in the forest?!" Sedgestar's taunting voice rang out, yowled from around the prey in his mouth.

Frostpaw's muscles tensed. She felt a deep, instinctual urge to move to attack at the sound of her leader's voice, but she forced herself to remain motionless.

 _We're waiting for Darkpelt's signal, remember?_ she reminded herself.

A furious snarl met the sound of Sedgestar's taunt.

"Don't let those fox-hearts get away!" Rabbitstar's voice yowled.

More shadowed shapes flashed past Frostpaw, and a wave of WindClan scent rolled over her, but the enemy cats took no notice of the ShadowClan patrol hidden right under their noses as they charged for the tree-line.

As the WindClan warriors ran past, Frostpaw thought her heart was going to hammer out of her chest as she leaned forward, feeling like every muscle in her body was straining. She was a branch straining under the pressure of a storm, just waiting on that final gust to snap…

 _"NOW!"_ Darkpelt's voice thundered.

Frostpaw threw herself forward.

The hidden ShadowClan patrol exploded out into the night, charging at the back of the WindClan patrol with an eerie chorus of howling battlecries. Frostpaw panted as she ran as fast as she could. The moor grass painfully whipped her face, making her eyes water and sting, but her gaze was fixedly locked on the back of the nearest WindClan cat.

For a heartbeat, the confusion of the WindClan cats was palpable, like a dense fog had descended over them. The WindClanners came to a jerky, stumbling halt as the patrol they were chasing suddenly threw down their prey and whirled on them. But, also their ears pricked and heads swiveled backwards in shock at the sound of Darkpelt's patrol from behind—approaching them from _their own_ territory. Frostpaw saw Weaseltail reach a WindClan cat and throw himself at the enemy warrior; the two of them going tumbling in a screeching ball of fur. The noise seemed to jar WindClan back to life.

"WindClan attack!" Rabbitstar screeched.

The night devolved into shrieks and chaos, as WindClan met the waves of ShadowClan descending on them from all sides at the edge of the moor. Swoopstrike reached the WindClan warrior Frostpaw was charging at before she did, swiping at the WindClan she-cat's face. The WindClan cat dodged back, dodging his blows, hissing at Swoopstrike. The she-cat's gaze darted from side to side, but with ShadowClan all around, the WindClan patrol was trapped, grouped tightly together, and there was no where for her to flee.

 _We cut off WindClan's room to run! Just like Grovepelt said in training!_ Frostpaw thought as she closed the distance between her and Swoopstrike with a few more bounds.

Swoopstrike didn't look at her, but she noticed his ears flickered towards the left. Frostpaw immediately understood the command, and she feinted left, swiping at the WindClan she-cat's side. The grey WindClan warrior was too quick though, and she dodged away with Frostpaw's claws only slicing through air. But, Swoopstrike had already moved to the right side, and the grey she-cat practically bumped into him. Swoopstrike gave her a rough cuffing around her ears, and grappled with her short pelt to try to pull her to him as she tried to struggle away. Seeing the enemy warrior occupied with Swoopstrike, Frostpaw seized the opportunity to pounce at her, clamping her jaws around her tail to give a sharp bite. The she-cat spat, lashing out with her hind-legs, one of them kicking Frostpaw in the face, dislodging her.

Frostpaw hissed in pain. She had been scratched across her forehead, and she blinked hard as a few drops of blood ran down her fur and into her eye. But, as Frostpaw swiped her blood from her gaze, she noticed the grey warrior looked much worse for wear than she did. She had been distracted by Frostpaw's bite, and Swoopstrike had used that distraction to get his claws properly into her. And, now he held the smaller cat mercilessly in place as he tore paw-ful after paw-ful of fur from her sides, leaving her pelt a torn, bleeding mess. It wasn't until she wailed in surrender did Swoopstrike release her, and she went fleeing into the surging crowd of the battle, her form quickly getting lost in the darkness, the tall grass, and the confusing, writhing masses of battling cats.

Swoopstrike bounded up to Frostpaw, his eyes practically glowing with excitement and blood-lust. His sides were also covered in scratches that the WindClan warrior inflicted as she tried to escape his clutches, but Swoopstrike didn't seem to even notice them. Swoopstrike stopped in front of Frostpaw, reaching a WindClan-bloodstained paw towards Frostpaw's face. He used it to tilt her chin up, inspecting the cut across her forehead.

"The blood is already clotting. You'll live; it's shallow," he said, dropping his paw from her chin. "Now you should go find Pinepaw, and help her out. I'll be a yowl away if you need me."

Frostpaw nodded, and Swoopstrike was gone, throwing himself back into the fray. Frostpaw scanned the area around her, searching for Pinepaw's black pelt. She saw her a few fox-lengths away, facing off against a snarling grey WindClan tom. Pinepaw let out a high pitched screech as the enemy warrior clamped his jaws down on her tail. She was struggling futilely to free herself, and a golden-brown WindClan cat was rounding on the pinned apprentice, unsheathed claws raised. With a growl, Frostpaw went bounding over to Pinepaw, springing onto the grey tom's back, digging her fore-claws into his shoulders and her hind claws into his spine, and giving his ear a hard bite.

As the salty tang of blood filled Frostpaw's mouth, the grey tom yowled in pain, releasing Pinepaw's tail from his jaws. Pinepaw shot forward, falling on the golden-brown tom in a flurry of hisses and slashes. The grey tom under Frostpaw bucked, twisting and snarling as he tried to shake her off. Frostpaw gasped as she lost her grip and was thrown to the ground. She landed on her side, letting out a yowl of pain as her hip slammed against the hard-packed earth. The grey tom whirled on her, but Swoopstrike suddenly appeared, barreling the smaller WindClan cat over. Frostpaw scrambled back to her paws and watched her mentor pin the smaller cat to the ground, give the WindClan warrior's side a solid raking with his claws before releasing him and sending the bleeding tom fleeing away with a final parting swat.

Frostpaw turned to check back on Pinepaw, and saw her still locked in battle with the golden-brown tom. Frostpaw ducked down, stalking up to the golden-brown warrior from behind, her form mostly hidden in the grass. Frostpaw saw Pinepaw's gaze flicker to her for just a heartbeat as she spotted her in the grass, before the black she-cat quickly looked away, not wanting to give away Frostpaw's position. Frostpaw watched as Pinepaw looked deliberately down at the tom's paws. The tom danced away from Pinepaw, thinking she was going for his feet, but Frostpaw understood the silent request. Frostpaw shot forward, sweeping the tom's legs out from him with a powerful wack of her forepaws. The tom let out a yelp of surprise as he stumbled, trying to turn towards Frostpaw's attack, but before he could, Pinepaw had sprung onto his back and was raking her hindlegs down his spine with several kicks, clawing up golden-brown fur and blood.

The tom howled in pain, trying to shake her off, but Frostpaw darted forward, raking her claws down the tom's face, clawing his muzzle. The tom snapped blindly, and Frostpaw hissed in pain as his fangs scraped her paw. Pinepaw sprung off the tom's back and landed next to Frostpaw before she whirled back towards the WindClan cat. Pinepaw and Frostpaw advanced towards him side by side, hissing, tails lashing and fur bristling. The tom shied back a few tail-lengths, looking uncertain if he wanted to take on both apprentices again.

A loud yowl interrupted the fighting, ringing across the battlefield. Frostpaw, Pinepaw and the WindClan cat all turned to look towards the noise. A few boulder-lengths away from them, Frostpaw saw Sedgestar standing over a ginger-furred cat in a patch of moor grass that had been violently flattened to the ground from the struggling cats. Sedgestar's striped head and tail raised high. Frostpaw blinked as she recognized the ginger cat that Sedgestar had pinned to the ground as Rabbitstar.

"This is where the border is, Rabbitstar!" Sedgestar snarled, shoving the ginger tom's muzzle into the dirt with a large paw. "And, don't you forget it!"

Sedgestar sprung off of Rabbitstar, and the WindClan leader stumbled to his paws, spitting dirt from his mouth. The ginger tom whirled, snarling at Sedgestar, seeming like he was going to attack him again, but Sedgestar just gave a low, rumbling, warning growl, his tail lashing behind him. Rabbitstar's gaze flicked around. Frostpaw saw that the ShadowClan warriors were creeping closer, tightening the snare around the WindClan cats, pushing them more tightly together. It was clear that WindClan was trapped and sorely outnumbered, and Rabbitstar seemed to realize that.

Rabbitstar gave a low, furious growl.

"WindClan! Retreat!" he yowled.

The ginger leader turned and shoved himself between the still snarling and swatting Darkpelt and Dustleap, breaking free from the circle of ShadowClan cats to flee across the moor. The trapped WindClan cats attempted to follow, shoving up against the circle of ShadowClan warriors.

"Let them run, but make sure they remember the sting of our claws!" Sedgestar shouted, throwing his head back to let out a thundering caterwaul of victory.

The rest of ShadowClan followed suit, raising their voices in exhilaration. WindClan fled with ShadowClan letting them pass by, but being sure to send them off with parting swipes and snaps. Frostpaw watched as Pinepaw sprung at the golden-brown cat they had been battling, giving one of his hindlegs a nip as he turned and ran, following the rest of WindClan. And, soon all of the WindClan cats were streaking away from the ShadowClan patrol, sprinting through the tall grass.

Frostpaw's heart pounded. The feeling from the ShadowClan cry was infectious, and Frostpaw couldn't stop herself from throwing her head back and adding her voice to theirs. ShadowClan's chorus of triumphant yowls echoed across the moor; their victory shouted up towards the dark night sky.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Whew this chapter was a beast. I had planned to include the after battle scene in it, but as I was writing it, it ended up being really long for just one chapter, so now it's been split in two. Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

 _And, fun fact! That story that Greytail is telling Autumnpaw and Frostpaw before she gets interrupted by Sedgestar's announcement is actually an idea for a warrior's fan-fiction that I want to write! It'll be a horror story (about a cat that contracts rabies,) and I've got the whole plot outlined already, but I just haven't had the chance to actually write it yet. I expect it to be a shorter story like maybe "Silk's Reign" in length. And, although Greytail tells Autumnpaw and Frostpaw that she'll finish the story later, unfortunately, that's all that it'll be mentioned in Frosted Heart because I don't want to give away the whole plot haha (and Greytail's version of the story has been a little warped and exaggeration by time)_

 _Reviews:_

 _Clearsight1010_ _: Thank you so much! Haha I don't want to give anything away but I'm sure Paledusk's scheming is going to come back to bite him eventually ;) And I'm happy to have you reading!_

 _Kitty-Guardian Dorothy_ _: Yeah, it really frustrates and annoys me when characters don't realize something obvious just so the writer can create more ~drama~! There will still be plenty of drama in this story without any of the characters having to be painfully oblivious or obtuse lol._

 _Jay0609: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're liking it :)_

 _Brian.H.H: Thank you sooo much! That makes more really happy to hear! And, haha yep Frostpaw was on the ambush patrol. I really wanted to include her in the battle, but since she hasn't been training long, I felt like she'd be more realistically be put on the kind of less dangerous patrol instead of attacking the camp. And, yeah, you're totally right about Pinepaw. I'm excited to continue to explore her and Frostpaw's (evolving) dynamic and dive a bit more into why Pinepaw seems to have such a grudge against her._


	10. Chapter 10: To ShadowClan

Frostpaw's throat growing hoarse, she finally ceased her yowling. Slowly the rest of her clan-mates did the same, and silence once again settled over the night. Frostpaw's gaze flickered over to meet Pinepaw's, who was still standing at Frostpaw's side. Pinepaw gave Frostpaw a single nod, and for once, her amber gaze held no trace of contempt.

"Well done," Swoopstrike meowed to Frostpaw in his gruff voice, padding over to the two apprentices.

Frostpaw raised her chin, feeling a rush of pride. Swoopstrike turned to Pinepaw.

"And, I'm sure Grovepelt will be pleased with you when I tell him how well you fought once we get back to camp," Swoopstrike added.

Pinepaw's tail stuck up in delight, her amber eyes glowing.

"Pinepaw! Frostpaw!"

Frostpaw's ears pricked, and she turned to see Autumnpaw and Poolpaw running over to her and Pinepaw. Besides a few scratches, Frostpaw was relieved to see that neither apprentice looked any worse for wear. The two toms eyes were still alight with excitement from the rush of the battle, and they practically vibrated with energy.

"We sure showed them!" Poolpaw crowed, springing around and swatting at nearby strands of grass.

For once, Swoopstrike didn't scold Poolpaw for pouncing around like a kit, but he did give an eye roll, shaking his head.

"It felt so good to finally use all of those moves we've been practicing in a real battle!" Autumnpaw said, bouncing up and down on his toes, before turning to Frostpaw and Pinepaw. "And, I saw you two fighting together there towards the end! You made a good team!"

Frostpaw glanced over at Pinepaw, but the other apprentice didn't look at her, just loudly cleared her throat.

"…Frostpaw was surprisingly competent," Pinepaw sniffed.

"Careful, Pinepaw, that almost sounded like a compliment," Poolpaw purred in a cheeky voice, his black and white tail flicking.

Pinepaw curled her lip up at her brother, a warning growl rumbling in her throat.

"How are my apprentices over here?" A deep voice behind Frostpaw said, interrupting the apprentices' bickering. "No serious injuries I hope?"

Frostpaw turned to see Sedgestar, accompanied by Weaseltail, padding over to the group of apprentices. Weaseltail swept a worried gaze over the apprentices, scanning them all separately, but the tom seemed to relax as he saw everyone still had two eyes, two ears, four legs and a tail. The ShadowClan leader was missing a few patches of fur on his shoulder and had a cut down his side, but his amber eyes glowed with victory. Swoopstrike shook his head in response to Sedgestar's question.

"No injuries here beyond scrapes and bruises, Sedgestar," Swoopstrike meowed. "And, the apprentices all fought valiantly."

"Good," Sedgestar said, a content look entering his amber eyes.

Weaseltail nodded in agreement, his face taking on a proud fatherly expression.

Autumnpaw practically swelled with pride. Pinepaw and Poolpaw exchanged delighted looks. Even Frostpaw felt a jolt of happiness at the compliment from ShadowClan's leader.

"How did Damppaw and Dewpaw do with the attack on the camp?" Swoopstrike asked.

Sedgestar's whiskers twitched with pleasure.

"Excellent," he meowed. "It seems to me that they are more than worthy of their warrior names. I will hold their ceremony once we get back to camp."

"Darkpelt and Larkfoot will be pleased," Weaseltail purred.

Pinepaw gasped, her fur standing on in with excitement.

"I have to go congratulate Damppaw!" she said.

Pinepaw quickly bounded off. Sedgestar departed from the group as well, raising his voice to address all of the ShadowClan cats.

"Remark the borders, then head back to camp! Don't forget to take the prey that was stolen from WindClan back too. Tonight we celebrate our victory!" Sedgestar said.

ShadowClan yowled in excitement. As many warriors went to mark the border on the trees, Fogfur and Beeclaw made their way over to their apprentices. Fogfur was carrying a massive hare, evidently one stolen from the WindClan fresh-kill pile.

"Let's head back to camp," Fogfur mumbled around the fresh-kill in his mouth. "It looks like plenty of warriors have the border marking taken care of."

Swoopstrike nodded in agreement.

Weaseltail, Beeclaw, Fogfur, Swoopstrike and the three apprentices walked through the trees in the direction of camp. As the excitement from the battle faded, Frostpaw found herself fighting back yawns as exhaustion crept in. But, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping for a while. Considering the warriors ceremony planned and the rowdy state the rest of the clan was in, ShadowClan would be living up to its name and wouldn't be resting until the shadows were driven away by the dawn.

Their group was the first to reach camp, and as they headed towards the thorn tunnel, the camp guard's voice rang out through the forest

"Returning ShadowClan warriors!" Hootflight called.

As Frostpaw emerged, blinking from the thorn tunnel, and she and her group were mobbed by the cats that had remained in camp.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Did we win?"

"Where's Sedgestar?"

"WindClan was soundly defeated," Fogfur boasted in a loud voice, dropping his hare at his feet. "The rest of the patrols should be right behind us!"

ShadowClan broke out into cheers.

Redclaw padded up to Weaseltail and the group of apprentices.

"Where's Pinepaw?" she meowed, her green eyes slightly concerned. "She's not injured, is she?"

"No, she's fine," Autumnpaw meowed.

"She just _had to_ be the first to congratulate _Damppaw_ ," Poolpaw said with an eye-roll, mockingly huffing out Damppaw's name in the same breathy voice Pinepaw used. "Sedgestar is making him and Dewpaw warriors tonight."

"Damppaw, huh?" Redclaw said with an amused twitch of her whiskers, exchanging a glance with Weaseltail. "She's been padding after that tom since she was a kit!"

"We know," Autumnpaw said, sticking his tongue out and wrinkling his face up like he just smelt crow-food.

Frostpaw stifled a loud purr at his expression, trying to cover it with a cough. But, the noise didn't fool Autumnpaw, and he shot her a look out of the corner of his gaze, his amber eyes shimmering playfully.

"Stop teasing your sister," Redclaw said sternly, flicking her tail at Autumnpaw's ears, but her gaze didn't look serious.

"Yes Redclaw," Autumnpaw said dutifully, ducking his head to dodge her tail, but his gaze continued to spark with mischief.

"Come here, Frostpaw, let me clean that blood off of your forehead," Redclaw said, rising to her paws and padding over to her before Frostpaw could even respond.

Frostpaw obediently dipped her head to allow Redclaw to rasp her tongue over her forehead, washing the blood off and gently rasping over the cut. Frostpaw noticed with a jolt that she was taller than her foster-mother now. Redclaw wasn't a particularly large cat, to be fair, but Frostpaw was still surprised that Redclaw had to stretch up on her toes to reach Frostpaw's forehead.

"There," Redclaw purred once she finished, giving Frostpaw another lick on the cheek for good measure. "You're back to being as pretty as ever."

"Thank you, Redclaw," Frostpaw purred quietly.

Redclaw's ears pricked, and she turned towards the thorn tunnel.

"I hear more cats coming!" she meowed.

Redclaw was right, and the rest of the ShadowClan patrols appeared, streaming through the tunnel with WindClan prey dangling from many of their jaws. Frostpaw spotted Pinepaw and Damppaw among them. Damppaw had a large WindClan pheasant in his mouth and a newly torn ear, but besides that looked no worse for wear. Pinepaw trailed after him, meowing something to him that Frostpaw could not hear because the camp had broken out into cheers again at the appearance of the rest of the battle patrol. Sedgestar was the last to enter camp, and he bounded victoriously into the center of the clearing, amidst his cheering clan-mates.

"My friends!" Sedgestar yowled, his shadowed figure stretched up proudly, and the cheering quieted so the cats could hear their leader. "As foolish as it may be, there are times when the other Clans start to think that they are stronger than us…"

A chorus of angry growls met his words, and Sedgestar waved his tail for silence.

"I know. I know," he said. "At gatherings, we carry ourselves with a quiet pride and dignity, reassured that we can face any threat that dares challenge us. But, sometimes the other clans see that and instead of seeing our strength, they think we are weak because we don't grumble and growl and puff our chests out and strut about like cardinals, as they do."

More angry yowls challenged his words, and Sedgestar nodded along with them.

 _"BUT!"_ he yowled out over all the other voices. "That false strength they display is just a mask to hide their insecurities and weaknesses! But, we are confident, so we are quiet! We know the value of our hidden strength! _Of shadows!"_

Frostpaw joined her voice to the others, yowling out her agreement. Her heart pounded in excitement. Frostpaw felt a strange feeling of collectiveness settle over her. It didn't seem anymore like her voice was shouting along with the others, but instead they blended together so now there was only one cry, one voice— ShadowClan's.

"WindClan was reminded of this tonight!" Sedgestar shouted, his amber eyes burning with fire. "It is a lesson they won't soon forget! And, so now we feast on their prey and celebrate our victory! To ShadowClan!"

 _"To ShadowClan!"_ the clan roared the echoed cry.

The prey taken from WindClan was distributed out among the cheering clan, and Grovepelt padded over to their fresh-kill pile to supplement it with a few pieces of ShadowClan prey so that every cat would have a full belly.

"Here you go," Fogfur said with a deep purr, dropping the massive hare he had stolen at Poolpaw, Autumnpaw and Frostpaw's feet. "This should be big enough to feed all three of you."

"Thank you Fogfur!" Poolpaw gasped excitedly.

Poolpaw quickly tucked in, inhaling the rabbit so quickly that it made Frostpaw wonder whether he thought that if he didn't eat it fast it would still run away from him.

"We better get in to have a piece before Poolpaw eats it all!" Autumnpaw meowed to Frostpaw with a purr.

He head-butted Poolpaw's black-and-white flank.

"Move your fat tail over and save some for us!" Autumnpaw purred.

"I'm not fat! I'm just fluffy!" Poolpaw protested through a mouthful of food, but he still scooted to make space for Autumnpaw and Frostpaw around the piece of prey.

Autumnpaw didn't reply, but he took a big bite of the rabbit, and the brothers' argument was forgotten for the moment as they both ate. Frostpaw took a bite from the flank of the rabbit, and let out a contented purr at the taste of the juicy meat.

"It's good, isn't it?" Autumnpaw mumbled around the food in his mouth. "And, it tastes even better than normal because we weren't the ones who had to catch it!"

The clan ate for a while, sharing prey and purrs and tongues while Elmclaw and Clearstream made their way through the group, putting herbs and cobwebs on wounds. Clearstream headed over to the group of apprentices, examining the cut across Frostpaw's forehead. She rubbed a poultice of herbs on it. Frostpaw winced as the juices stung the cut.

"That'll keep it from getting infected," Clearstream said. "But, it seems shallow, so I expect it will heal without a problem. Do you have any other wounds?"

"My paw was bitten," Frostpaw said, extending her forepaw towards the medicine cat.

Clearstream carefully studied the paw.

"It doesn't appear to have broken the skin. The paw might be sore for a day, but it should be fine," Clearstream chirped cheerfully, before turning towards Autumnpaw and Poolpaw.

"Where are your wounds?" she asked.

Clearstream put some poultice on a scratch on Autumnpaw's side, and dabbed a bit on Poolpaw's bitten shoulder before declaring the group of apprentices good, and moving on to the next cat.

As the feasting settled down as every cat in the clan ate their full, Sedgestar rose to his paws, raising his tail for attention. The clan quieted their conversations, and once more turned towards their leader.

"I have one more announcement to make tonight," Sedgestar said, a low purr rumbling in his voice. "And, it is one that fills me with joy and pride. Damppaw and Dewpaw, will you please step forward?"

The two apprentices strode out of the crowd to stand before Sedgestar. Frostpaw noticed they had taken the time to clean their pelts after the battle. Damppaw's dark pelt gleamed with inky blackness, and Dewpaw's grey pelt billowed like storm clouds around her. Besides Damppaw's herb-plastered newly torn ear and Dewpaw's scratched nose, their pelts looked unblemished, and they looked at their leader with shining eyes. Sedgestar lifted his head high, angling his gaze upwards to search the overcast sky. Some of the cloud cover had broken, and there was a few slivers of sky from which the stars of Silverpelt blinked through.

"The clouds have parted so our warrior ancestors can watch over us!" Sedgestar said, his voice ringing throughout camp. "We must have their blessing for this ceremony. I, Sedgestar, leader of ShadowClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They fought valiantly tonight to protect the honor of ShadowClan, and I have found them to be more than worthy of their warrior names."

Sedgestar dropped his head to search Damppaw and Dewpaw's gazes.

"Damppaw and Dewpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

" _I do_ ," Damppaw and Dewpaw's voices rang out in chorus.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names," Sedgestar said, his chin held high. "Damppaw, from this moment on you will be known as Dampfang. StarClan honors your bravery and strength. Dewpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Dewleaf. StarClan honors your loyalty and determination. And, we welcome you both as full warriors of ShadowClan!"

The clan cheered as Sedgestar rested his muzzle first on Dampfang's head, then on Dewleaf's.

"Dampfang! Dewleaf! Dampfang! Dewleaf!" Frostpaw cheered along with her clanmates.

Looking at Dampfang and Dewleaf's proudly raised heads, for the first time Frostpaw felt a thrill of excitement pass through her at the thought of one day being in their pawsteps, listening to ShadowClan cheer her name. She imagined the pride she would see in Redclaw and Weaseltail's faces, Sedgestar's contented expression as he watched his clan grow, and even maybe grudging admiration in Swoopstrike's eyes.

As the cheering died down, cats moved to congratulate the newly named warriors. There was some more yawning here and there too, and Frostpaw saw Amberberry usher Mosskit and Murmurkit towards the nursery.

"But, Mom! Why can't we stay up longer? We're going to be made apprentices any day now!" Mosskit protested.

"That's true, but until your name ends with a 'paw and not a 'kit, you still have to do as I say," Amberberry scolded, nudging her daughters along.

Frostpaw found herself stifling yawns herself, the weariness of her muscles from the battle catching back up to her. It seemed too almost like her cuts were stinging a bit more as if in echo of her tiredness.

"Lets go congratulate Dampfang and Dewleaf, then head to our nests," Autumnpaw said, rising to his paws and yawning. "I'm exhausted."

"Speak for yourself," Poolpaw said, puffing his chest out. "I still feel like I could take on three WindClan cats. I think I'll stay out for a bit longer and chat with them before they have to do their vigils."

"And, listen to Dampfang yammer on all night about how great he was in the battle?" Autumnpaw asked with an eye-roll, leading the way across the camp towards the new warriors with Frostpaw and Poolpaw following. " _Thank StarClan_ warrior vigils are silent or no cat would get any sleep tonight."

Frostpaw and Poolpaw purred in amusement.

"You got that right," Poolpaw said.

Frostpaw shot a look at Poolpaw out of the corner of her eyes.

"Although, I think Poolpaw might be more concerned about Dewleaf than with Dampfang…" Frostpaw said, a quiet bit of mischievousness creeping into her voice.

Poolpaw widened his eyes at Frostpaw.

 _"What!?"_ Autumnpaw said, dramatically whirling around. "Is this true? Poolpaw, explain yourself."

"Shut up, you frog-brains!" Poolpaw hissed, embarrassed heat rolling off his prickling black-and-white fur. "They can hear us!"

"This conversation is not over!" Autumnpaw said, but Poolpaw bounded ahead of him to greet Dampfang, Dewleaf and Pinepaw who were chatting together.

"How did you know Poolpaw likes Dewleaf, and I didn't?" Autumnpaw asked in a quieter voice, turning to Frostpaw with a furrowed brow.

"Well it was more of a hunch than anything," Frostpaw admitted with a shrug. "He's not as obvious about it as Pinepaw is about Dampfang."

"So, I guess I'm just dense then?" Autumnpaw said, his dark red tail flicking.

"Your words, not mine," Frostpaw said with a stifled purr.

"Ouch," Autumnpaw said teasingly, flicking his tail at Frostpaw, which she nimbly dodged.

As the two of them approached the group, Frostpaw noticed they were in the midst of a lively conversation, with Dampfang holding everybody's attention as he spoke and gestured wildly. Dampfang narrowed his eyes at Frostpaw as she sat down by Dewleaf and Poolpaw, but he didn't pause in his sentence.

"—So, once we got into the camp, we fell immediately down on the WindClan warriors. They sleep out in the open in the middle of the camp, by the way. Can you believe that? They must have cold and wet pelts so many nights. But, anyway, so we got into the camp without alerting their sentries, and we pounced on them while they were still sleeping! Ha! What a way to wake up, huh?" Dampfang said, his green eyes glinting in excitement.

Pinepaw was eagerly nodding along, looking entranced by him. Even Autumnpaw and Poolpaw's ears pricked in interest, despite their common complaints that he never shut up.

"Then once Sedgestar told us to retreat, we snatched up all the prey in their fresh-kill pile and went running!" Dampfang meowed.

"WindClan claims to be the fastest in the forest, but they didn't catch us," Dewleaf added, giving her paw a satisfied lick and drawing it across her whiskers.

"Yeah!" Dampfang agreed, his tail tip twitching. "We made it to the border with them fox-lengths behind."

"Where we were waiting for them!" Poolpaw added, digging his claws into the ground.

Autumnpaw nodded in satisfaction, turning to look at Frostpaw.

"Are you excited that you finally got some revenge on those WindClan cats who tried to attack you?" Autumnpaw asked.

Frostpaw shuffled her paws, feeling her fur prickle uncomfortably as the full attention of the group was turned on her.

"…Yeah," Frostpaw said, but she felt like her voice didn't sound enthusiastic enough.

Frostpaw's brow furrowed, and her thoughts reeled, as she saw Dampfang and Pinepaw's gazes narrow critically at her.

"I mean… it wasn't really about me though. They disrespected Sedgestar and ShadowClan. That's why they needed to be taught a lesson," Frostpaw added rapidly, shooting a quick look at Autumnpaw for support.

Autumnpaw nodded along to her words, giving her a reassuring blink.

"Of course," he meowed.

"Well, _I_ definitely enjoyed tearing them up!" Pinepaw cut in, jumping to her paws.

"I'm mean, you four haven't been training long," Dampfang drawled, casting his green gaze harshly over the four apprentices like he wasn't an apprentice himself only a few heartbeats ago. "But, this is WindClan that we're talking about, and everyone knows that they're scrawny cowards. So, I'm sure they weren't too much of a problem for you to fight."

Dampfang's gaze slid over to Frostpaw.

"Even for someone like you," he added pointedly to her.

Frostpaw clenched her jaw, and she felt her stomach clench as a rush of tight anxiety washed over her, but Autumnpaw jumped in before she could say anything.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Autumnpaw said, a slight warning growl in his voice. "Frostpaw has been training just as long as me or my littermates. She fights just as well as we do too."

Dampfang shrugged, his sticky green gaze sliding from Frostpaw to Autumnpaw.

"Training can only do so much though, right?" Dampfang said. "What I'm talking about is _blood._ You can't change that. I mean… a squirrel will never learn how to fly no matter how many times it jumps out a tree. Even if it was raised by birds. Because it was born a squirrel. Not a bird."

Frostpaw's ears flattened. Her stomach rolled with hot anger. She wanted to snap at Dampfang that it wasn't true, that she was just as much as a ShadowClan cat as him, and she would be just as good as a warrior—no. A _better_ warrior than him someday. But, strangely her throat felt bone-dry, and she could make no words come. Not that it would make a difference anyway, what could she even say to change a cat like Dampfang's mind?

Fur prickling with heat, half from anger, and half from her inability to defend herself, Frostpaw jerkily rose herself to her paws and whirled away from the group, stalking towards the apprentices' den with tense muscles.

"You must have tadpoles in your brain because Frostpaw is a _cat,_ just like you and me and the rest of us, not a bird or a squirrel!" Frostpaw heard Autumnpaw snarling behind her. "That's all that matters!"

"Not true. Blood is very important," Dampfang sneered. "Does a WindClan cat like to swim? No. But, RiverClan does. That's a difference in blood."

Frostpaw heard Autumnpaw growling something in a low, angry voice, but then she heard Poolpaw's voice cut in.

"He's not worth it," Poolpaw muttered.

 _I wonder if Pinepaw agrees with Dampfang,_ Frostpaw thought, her jaw clenching.

But, she knew she couldn't look back and check the she-cat's expression, that would just add to her already horribly embarrassing exit. Her stomached rolled as she thought of how she must look like such a pathetic coward to them, running away.

"What's going on?"

Swoopstrike appeared out of nowhere as Frostpaw thought he so often did, his green eyes not missing a thing as they swept over Frostpaw's prickling pelt and clenched jaw.

"—Dampfang…" Frostpaw growled, her voice coming back to her.

She shook her head. There wasn't a point in telling Swoopstrike. Then he would just think she was a pathetic coward too, which wouldn't benefit anyone.

"Don't worry about it. I'm handling it," Frostpaw said through clenched fangs, turning her gaze away from him.

Swoopstrike's gaze studied her face carefully.

"Good," he said in his curt tones.

Swoopstrike turned away from her, and Frostpaw continued towards the apprentices' den.

"Frostpaw," Swoopstrike said with a tail flick, drawing her attention back to him. "Remember what Sedgestar said. Quiet, hidden strength is what ShadowClan values. The cat that yowls the loudest doesn't win. Just be unyielding."

Frostpaw's brow furrowed, wondering how much her mentor was able to decipher about Dampfang just from her expression. But, she nodded to him before turning again and padding into the dark apprentices' den.

Frostpaw headed to her nest. Even though Dampfang and Dewleaf wouldn't be sleeping in this den any longer, giving the remaining apprentices more space, Frostpaw still curled up in her cramped nest, pushed tight against the side of the holly bush. Frostpaw closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to wash over her quickly.

The entrance to the den rustled, and Autumnpaw's earthy scent drifted over to Frostpaw as he pushed his way inside the holly bush. Frostpaw kept her eyes tightly shut, pretending to be asleep. Her stomach still clenched anxiously as her cowardly retreat played over again and again in her mind.

 _I can't face him… not yet._

Frostpaw heard Autumnpaw pad into the den, growling quietly to himself. He paused his growling and then more rustling began. As the rustling persisted and grew increasing louder, Frostpaw cracked one of her eyes open a tiny sliver, overcome by curiosity. Autumnpaw was in the center of the den, clawing up Dampfang's old nest and viciously kicking it out of the apprentice's den. Frostpaw closed her eyes again before Autumnpaw could notice, and she continued to pretend to sleep, waiting for her mounting exhaustion to make it a reality. Eventually Autumnpaw's rustling died down after he must have gotten every scrap of moss that smelt like Dampfang out of the den.

Frostpaw felt herself teetering on the verge of sleep, her thoughts becoming more and more incoherent when she felt a muzzle gently nudging her shoulder, snapping her out of it. Frostpaw's eyes flickered open, and she saw Autumnpaw's shadowed form standing over her.

"Hey…" he meowed in an abnormally serious voice, blinking dark amber eyes down at her. "I got rid of Dampfang's nest, so there's more room in the center of the den now. I moved my nest over there, and you can come put yours next to mine if you want. It's less drafty in the center."

Autumnpaw's gaze flickered towards the holly branches that reached their way from the side of the den and into Frostpaw's nest.

"And, less poke-y," he added, a hint of his normal mischief appearing back in his gaze.

At the sound of his joking voice, Frostpaw couldn't stop a soft purr from rumbling in her throat.

"…Okay," she murmured quietly.

Frostpaw rose from her nest, and Autumnpaw helped her move the moss, pine needles, and feathers over a few tail-lengths into the center of the den, reassembling a cozy nest for her there, next to Autumnpaw's. The tightness in her stomach miraculously gone, Frostpaw curled up in her new nest, wrapped herself into a ball, and covered her muzzle with her tail. Frostpaw felt Autumnpaw circle in his nest beside hers, and his back brushed hers as he curled himself into a tight ball.

"Goodnight, Frostpaw," Autumnpaw meowed.

"Goodnight, Autumnpaw," Frostpaw replied.

Frostpaw's eyes drifted shut, and sleep draped over her effortlessly.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Hey guys, sorry about the really long wait in getting this chapter out. The holidays were pretty crazy for me, and without going into too many gory details, I'll just say that I'm going through a rather unpleasant rough patch in my life right now, so I've been pretty stressed and unhappy. I've been sitting on this chapter for a while because I like to have the next chapter in the works before I post the previous one. But, with everything that's going on, I haven't made much progress with the next one chapter. Still, I felt like enough is enough, and I should go ahead a put this one out. Maybe posting this one will help motivate me with working on the next. Thank you all for your patience and for reading/reviewing._

 _Here we are finally introduced to Mr. Racist Dampfang. Interestingly, this chapter is the first one that he talks in even though he's been mentioned a bunch of times in earlier chapters by other characters. He's not a totally insignificant background character either, so he'll be back._

 _Reviews:_

 _Clearsight1010: Thank you! Frostpaw is a sweet, sensitive girl; I really enjoy writing her._

 _ToxicUniverse: Hey! It's really great to hear from you! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, and I of course would love to see any kind of artwork if you desire to do it :)_

 _Kitty-Guardian Dorothy: Haha thanks! And, yeah Swoopstrike is rough around the edges but not a total bad guy._

 _Brian.H.H: Thanks! I definitely like your theorizing, but I don't want to give anything away! Haha although I will say Pinepaw and Frostpaw's relationship won't be mended only by this one battle they fought together. And, I'm glad you liked the little insight into Rabbitstar! I actually have a rather interesting backstory for him in my head, and I'm a little disappointed that I won't be able to explore it very much in this story since the POV is from Frostpaw who is of course in ShadowClan. But, I might try to sprinkle more of it in subtly in the background at gatherings and stuff as we go along._


	11. Chapter 11: Watch and Wait

In the days following the battle with WindClan, a feeling of normality settled over ShadowClan once more. After their firm defeat on their own territory, WindClan stopped pushing their luck on the border, and Frostpaw spent her days training, and hunting, and patrolling, the trouble with WindClan forgotten, for now at least.

A few sunrises after the battle, Mosspaw and Murmurpaw were made apprentices, and given to Dappledpelt and Thornheart, respectively. And, the apprentice den was full once more, made especially lively by the talkative Mosspaw. Frostpaw was on a dawn patrol with Mosspaw, Swoopstrike, Dappledpelt, and Dewleaf now. And, Frostpaw nodded patiently along as Mosspaw went on and on, leaving Frostpaw idly wondering how the she-cat managed to speak for so long without seemingly taking a breath.

"This is only my second patrol," Mosspaw was saying now to her. "I went on the first one to tour our territory, of course. But, I've only done hunting training and moss duty since then, so this is my first proper border patrol! Oh! Do you think we'll see any WindClan cats? Ha, although I don't think WindClan will want to show their faces around us after we beat them so bad not that long ago. What about ThunderClan? Are they actually as big as the elders say they are? I always thought that must be an exaggeration—"

"We won't be seeing any enemy warriors if you keep pattering on like that," Swoopstrike snapped, whipping his head around from where he was walking in front of the two apprentices to lock Mosspaw in his scorching green gaze. "I swear, every cat in the forest much be able to hear you from here to Highstones!"

Mosspaw's ears flattened, her jaws snapping shut against her stream of words, and the golden-furred apprentice seemed to somewhat deflate. Frostpaw gave Mosspaw a sympathetic look.

"Don't talk to my apprentice that way!" Dappledpelt snapped back to Swoopstrike from his side, the gaze she raked over him as sharp as thorns.

Swoopstrike's ears flattened at her rebuke, his tail tip twitching.

Frostpaw thought the dappled tortoiseshell warrior seemed very defensive of Mosspaw, her first apprentice. Frostpaw's brow furrowed slightly as she noted that she and Swoopstrike were close in age, and must have been den-mates in the nursery and apprentice den together.

 _I wonder if that's why she's not afraid to put Swoopstrike in his place—she's been dealing up with his grumpy mood her entire life!_

Swoopstrike rolled his eyes at Dappledpelt.

"I'm just saying, ShadowClan is known for being _silent_ , right?" Swoopstrike said. "The best stalkers in the forest? Ever heard of that? Being loud is just un-ShadowClan."

"Oh, shut up, frog-brain," Dappledpelt said, with an eye roll in response. "She's just excited. I know the concept of happiness is hard to grasp for a cat who's heart is as barren and frigid as yours, but _try_ to imagine."

"If my heart is cold and dead, it's only because you made it that way," Swoopstrike retorted hotly, but Frostpaw thought she could defect a hint of playfulness in his voice that was unusual for him. " _StarClan,_ you drain the life out of everything you touch. You know, Sedgestar was actually going to give you the warrior name 'Deathtouch,' but I thought it was too mean, so I convinced him to just go with 'Dappledpelt' instead."

"No, I think you've gotten me confused with yourself," Dappledpelt said haughtily, sticking her muzzle up in the air. "Ask anyone in the clan. Especially your poor sister. You're so unbearable, it's a miracle Snakeeyes didn't do us all a favor and strangle you when you two were only kits."

Dappledpelt flicked Swoopstrike's flank with a lash of her tail, and Swoopstrike sprung away from her touch like it was burning fire.

" _Ack!_ Stay away from me, Deathtouch! My heart will give out, and I'm too young to die!" Swoopstrike yowled, recoiling from her.

Dappledpelt huffed offendedly.

"Come on, Mosspaw! Let's run ahead to the ThunderClan border before this _noisy, un-ShadowClan_ frog-brain scares away all the cats 'from here to Highstones!'" Dappledpelt shouted the final jab over her shoulder, and she opened her stride, eating up the ground.

Mosspaw followed her into the trees, as did Dewleaf, who was purring loudly with amusement from their whole interaction. Frostpaw hung back with Swoopstrike, figuring that he wouldn't be pleased if his own apprentice abandoned him too.

Frostpaw studied Swoopstrike's face as he watched Dappledpelt run away with a green gaze that shimmered like a pool of water in the sunlight. But, Swoopstrike seemed to sense Frostpaw's eyes on him, and his gaze flickered to her.

"What?" he snapped, his eyes narrowing, the spark of warmth that was in them only a heartbeat ago vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

Frostpaw just looked away, and shrugged.

Not saying anything was probably the best course of action here, but she couldn't stop her whiskers from twitching in smug amusement. Swoopstrike huffed, giving himself a shake.

"Let's head to the border," he said in his normal curt tones, taking off at a sprint.

Frostpaw followed.

They caught up with the rest of their patrol at the edge of the thunderpath. Dappledpelt's ear twitched when Swoopstrike and Frostpaw approached but besides that didn't say anything. The ShadowClan patrol prowled down the edge of the thunderpath, remarking their borders in the shade of the trees as monsters roared past. Mosspaw, still not accustomed to the loud beasts, jumped at every passing. The thunderpath quieted down for a bit, and as the sharp tang of monster scent faded, Frostpaw's nose twitched as it picked up a new scent—cat scent.

"ThunderClan," Swoopstrike hissed the warning, catching the same scent Frostpaw had.

The ShadowClan patrol instinctively crouched down in the darkness beneath the pines, and turned to gaze across the thunderpath, their sharp eyes scanning the dark undergrowth on the other side to search for any movement. It wasn't long before some bushes on the ThunderClan side of the border rustled and a patrol of four cats pushed their way through. Frostpaw recognized one brown tom as Acornear, the ThunderClan deputy, but the other warriors, a tortoiseshell she-cat, a ginger she-cat, and a grey-and-white tom, were unfamiliar to her. The ThunderClan warriors hadn't seemed to notice the ShadowClan patrol hidden in the shadows across the thunderpath, and they continued on their way down the edge of their tree line undisturbed. Acornear split away from the rest of his patrol to pad out from under the trees and approach the edge of the thunderpath.

Frostpaw noticed Swoopstrike tense beside her, like he was afraid that the ThunderClan deputy would try to cross the thunderpath and into their territory. But, Acornear stopped right at the edge of the black, sticky stone of the thunderpath and bent his head to sniff at some crowfood lying there. Frostpaw squinted, trying to make out the shape. She thought it might be a squirrel, but it was hard to tell because its body was rather mangled by the monster that had killed it. Frostpaw's eyes widened in shock as Acornear opened his jaws to pick up the crowfood, which was exactly when Swoopstrike moved out from under the shadows of the trees to stride out towards the thunderpath.

"Has ThunderClan gotten so weak that it needs monsters to do their hunting for them?" Swoopstrike sneered, his voice ringing across the thunderpath.

Acornear's head snapped up in surprise, dropping the crowfood back on the ground. The rest of the ThunderClan patrol turned to face the sound of Swoopstrike's voice, their pelts bristling.

"I hear that crowfood that sits on the side of the thunderpath for sunrises acquires a very _unique_ flavor," Dappledpelt added, padding out to stand at Swoopstrike's side. "ThunderClan must like that."

Swoopstrike nodded at Dappledpelt's words, his face mockingly thoughtful. Frostpaw thought he and Dappledpelt made a frightening team when their biting words were working in tandem instead of battling against each other.

"You sure do talk a lot for a Clan that eats rats and two-leg trash at the Carrionplace," the ginger ThunderClan she-cat snarled in reply, dashing up to their side of the thunderpath with a bristling pelt.

"Tell me, Acornear," Swoopstrike continued, ignoring the ginger she-cat. "Does ThunderClan let all of their freshkill sit out until it starts rotting or is crowfood like this a treat for special occasions?"

 _"Enough,"_ Acornear snarled, and Frostpaw saw a gleaming flash of claws as he dug them into the ground in fury. "I won't tolerate these insults on my own territory!"

" _Your_ territory?" Dewleaf echoed, her eyes wide in mock surprise, as she padded up to join Swoopstrike and Dappledpelt.

Frostpaw hesitantly crept out behind them, her belly tight with nerves as she waited to see if the tenseness between the patrols would break out into a full-out fight. Mosspaw was at her side, and the younger apprentice's eyes were wide and her fur all bushed out, looking equal parts frightened and excited.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but I think you must be confused," Dappledpelt said, her lip curled up slightly. "We are over here on the ShadowClan side of the thunderpath, having a conversation among ourselves on _our_ territory. Whatever you happen to overhear is not our fault."

"Yes, it's absurd to even think that we would want to talk to ThunderClan," Swoopstrike sniffed, turning to Dappledpelt. "I've met smarter squirrels. They would hold a conversation better."

The ThunderClan patrol let out a few loud growls and angry yowls.

"Hey!" Dappledpelt snapped, whipping her head around to shoot a scorching look at the ThunderClan cats. "We are having a private conversation over here! Eavesdropping is very rude!"

"I've had enough of this mockery!" Acornear snarled, his brown fur bristling out. "Get them!"

The ThunderClan patrol went charging across the thunderpath, yowling battlecries.

"Drive the intruders back!" Swoopstrike yowled just as the ThunderClan patrol made their final bounds across the thunderpath and into ShadowClan territory.

The cats clashed together. Frostpaw barely had time to think before she threw herself at the ginger she-cat, hissing. The scuffle was close-quarters, trapped right at the edge of the thunderpath, and very heated. Unlike the battle against WindClan, there was no plan, no grand strategy, just cat versus cat—scratching, hissing, biting. Frostpaw growled as the ginger she-cat cut her shoulder with her claws, and she retaliated by springing on to the ginger cat's back, digging her claws into her flanks and biting at her scruff. Before the fight could even truly begin though, a loud voice came ringing across the thunderpath.

 _"What is the meaning of this!"_ The voice thundered.

The ThunderClan cats scrambled away from the ShadowClan cats in shock, retreating towards the thunderpath, and turning their heads towards the voice. Swoopstrike made to follow them with a growl, but Dappledpelt halted him with a twitch of her tail, her cautious, yet curious gaze telling the ShadowClan patrol to hold.

Over in ThunderClan territory, a tall pale grey tom stood at the edge of the thunderpath with bristling fur, two other ThunderClan cats at his side. Frostpaw realized with a jolt that the grey tom was Morningstar, ThunderClan's leader.

"Morningstar, we—" Acornear began.

"Why in StarClan's name is my deputy on ShadowClan territory?" Morningstar snarled furiously, and Frostpaw saw spittle flying from his lips. "Don't we have enough to deal with, with WindClan and SkyClan without you turning ShadowClan against us too? What's next? Are you going to go fishing on RiverClan territory and tell them we own the river now?"

Acornear's ears flattened, and he looked like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin rather than continue to be shamed by his leader in front of a ShadowClan patrol.

"They were mocking us, Morningstar!" Acornear protested. "I couldn't let what they were saying stand—"

"The health of my clan is more important to me, than your fragile pride, Acornear," Morningstar cut him off, each word growled out through clenched fangs. "I've dragged my name through the mud for ThunderClan, and I would do much worse if it means our clan's survival. Now. _Get. Back. Over. Here."_

"Let them go," Dappledpelt muttered to their patrol.

With flattened ears and drooped tails, the ThunderClan patrol went ashamedly running back across the thunderpath.

"Ha, mouse-hearts," Swoopstrike spat under his breath as they retreated.

Once all of the ThunderClan warriors were safely back on their side of the thunderpath, Morningstar turned to address the ShadowClan warriors.

"Give Sedgestar my sincerest apologies," Morningstar meowed, his chin raised, and his deep voice more composed. "My warriors were acting out of turn, against my wishes. And, I will ensure that it will _not_ happen again."

"We will see what Sedgestar has to say about this," Swoopstrike responded hauntingly, striding towards the edge of the thunderpath with his tail kinked and bushed out behind him. "But, we will pass on your message."

Morningstar nodded, then with a flick of his tail, indicating for his cats to follow, he turned and vanished into the undergrowth. Swoopstrike relaxed his aggressive posturing as the ThunderClan scent faded, lowering his tail to swish it thoughtfully behind him.

"Interesting," Dewleaf said.

"Very," Dappledpelt mused before turning to look at Mosspaw and Frostpaw.

"Is anyone hurt?" she asked.

Frostpaw shook her head. The cut on her shoulder stung a little, but it was only a scratch. Frostpaw turned to give the scratch a quick rasping with her tongue to clean it. Mosspaw also shook her head; her pelt was still bristled out, but it looked unmarked.

"Let's finish this border then then head back to camp," Swoopstrike said, turning to lead the patrol down the tree-line, remarking bushes and trunks to drown out any remnants of ThunderClan scent.

"No, if no one is really hurt, we can finish the patrol and do the WindClan border too," Dappledpelt protested, following him. "You saw how cowed they all were by Morningstar, there's no need to rush back to Sedgestar about this."

"What if it was a ploy?" Swoopstrike growled from over his shoulder. "To make us lower our guard and think that they aren't planning to attack?"

"You think ThunderClan is able to plan that much ahead?" Dewleaf said with a scoff, padding over to them. "You said it yourself, most squirrels are smarter."

"Still they're up to something," Swoopstrike muttered.

"Acornear was picking up crowfood," Frostpaw added.

Swoopstrike locked her in his intense gaze, and Frostpaw swallowed nervously.

"So?" he asked.

"So… he was doing that before he saw us, which means that they were actually planning on eating it right?" Frostpaw murmured quietly.

"They are short on prey," Dappledpelt agreed, nodding approvingly at Frostpaw. "And, therefore weak and not a threat."

" _Or,_ desperate _and_ a threat," Swoopstrike argued, his chin jutting out stubbornly.

"Morningstar seemed genuine to me when he said that he didn't want to provoke us," Dappledpelt said with a shrug. "But, really its Sedgestar's opinion on it that really matters. Which is why we'll tell him about this. _After_ we finish our patrol."

Swoopstrike huffed.

"Fine," he grumbled, relenting.

"ThunderClan doesn't seem to be doing well," Mosspaw meowed to Frostpaw as the patrol continued down the border.

"Prey ran poorly for ThunderClan during leaf-bare," Frostpaw said. "And, it doesn't sound like they've recovered yet."

"Why?" Mosspaw asked, tilting her head inquisitively. "It's green-leaf now. Their forest should be filled with prey."

Frostpaw shrugged, unable to answer her.

Prey was running well in ShadowClan at least, and after the group finished the uneventful patrol down the WindClan border, Swoopstrike and Dappledpelt allowed their apprentices to hunt a bit on their way back to camp. Frostpaw caught a mouse and Mosspaw caught a frog. Dappledpelt seemed as delighted as Mosspaw at her apprentice's catch, although Swoopstrike hissed something about frogs being the slowest and stupidest prey, making them the easiest to get and a newborn kitten could probably catch one.

"How do you put up with him being like this all the time?" Mosspaw muttered quietly to Frostpaw around the frog in her mouth as the patrol made their way back to camp, shooting Swoopstrike's back a fierce look.

Frostpaw's fur prickled slightly, and she felt an odd urge to defend her mentor. Swoopstrike was prickly and difficult and even mean sometimes, yes. But, he had come to her rescue more than one time, and Frostpaw sensed his heart was good, underneath all of the thorns he cloaked it with.

"The ThunderClan thing is putting him on edge," Frostpaw whispered back. "He's normally not this bad."

Mosspaw just shrugged, her expression looking like she didn't entirely believe Frostpaw.

Soon the patrol reached the thorny barrier that surrounded the camp, and pushed their way through the tunnel to go inside. Frostpaw winced as a thorn caught a tangle of her long fur and she lost a clump of it to the plant. The patrol dropped off the few pieces of prey that they brought back at the fresh-kill pile before Dappledpelt and Swoopstrike turned to search the camp for Sedgestar. Frostpaw spotted their leader near the entrance to the medicine cat's den at the base of Clanrock, chatting with Clearstream and Grovepelt as the three of them lounged in a pool of mid-day sunlight.

"How convenient. The medicine cat and the deputy are already here too," Dappledpelt said as she motioned for Swoopstrike to follow her towards Sedgestar.

"You two take care of that," Dewleaf said with a yawn. "I'm going to take a nap."

"Are we supposed to wait here?" Mosspaw whispered to Frostpaw as their mentors padded off towards their leader.

Frostpaw shrugged and crept forward to follow Swoopstrike, overcome by curiosity about what they would talk about. Mosspaw shadowed her. The apprentices hung back a tail-length from the group as Dappledpelt and Swoopstrike walked right up to Sedgestar.

"Sedgestar, Grovepelt," Swoopstrike said.

Grovepelt's half-closed eyes blinked open and he turned a gaze bleary with sleep onto Swoopstrike. Sedgestar halted his conversation with Clearstream, blinking an inquisitive gaze at the warrior. Swoopstrike took this look as an invitation to continue.

"There was a confrontation with ThunderClan at the border today," Swoopstrike growled.

"Is anyone hurt?" Clearstream asked, sweeping her sharp gaze over the pelts of Dappledpelt and Swoopstrike before gazing over at Mosspaw and Frostpaw.

"Only shallow scratches. We're all fine," Dappledpelt replied.

"What happened?" Sedgestar said in his deep voice.

"We saw ThunderClan, led by Acornear, sniffing around really closely to their side of the thunderpath. It looked like they were collecting crow-food to eat. We engaged them in conversation, which annoyed them, and they crossed the thunderpath to attack," Swoopstrike said. "But, they were quickly ordered back to their territory by Morningstar, who appeared with a different patrol, although they weren't happy to retreat. And, he apologized for their behavior, saying that it went against his wishes."

"They were planning on eating crow-food, you said?" Grovepelt reiterated, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"That's what it looked like, yes," Dappledpelt confirmed.

"Hm," Grovepelt said, exchanging a look with Sedgestar.

Frostpaw saw thoughts flickering in their gazes like minnows, as if the leader and deputy were having a silent conversation.

"I believe Morningstar when he says he doesn't not intend to attack us," Sedgestar said after the thoughtful silence, turning to look back at Swoopstrike.

"So you don't think they are a threat?" Swoopstrike asked, his green gaze intense.

One of Sedgestar's ears flicked back.

"…I didn't say that," Sedgestar continued slowly. "Morningstar is a very candid cat. That doesn't mean that he doesn't keep secrets, but when he says something, he means it. Do you remember when he admitted ThunderClan was starving, and asked for territory to hunt in last leaf-bare? Can you imagine any other leader saying that?"

Swoopstrike and Dappledpelt shook their heads.

"So, what are you saying, Sedgestar?" Dappledpelt asked.

"I think ThunderClan is having some sort of problem," Sedgestar said. "And, they don't want to add us to the list."

Sedgestar turned to look at Clearstream.

"Has StarClan sent you any sort of warning?" he asked her.

The medicine cat shook her head.

"No, Sedgestar. They haven't delivered any prophecies since I saw the vision of the owl during leaf-bare," Clearstream said.

Sedgestar nodded thoughtfully.

"If the situation was dire for us, I think that our ancestors would warn us," he said. "So, the question then becomes: will ThunderClan's problem become our problem, or will they think that attacking us will solve their problem?"

"Morningstar mentioned something about 'dealing with' SkyClan and WindClan," Swoopstrike added his tail jutting up in excitement.

"Ah, Fennelstar and Rabbitstar. I should have suspected," Sedgestar said, his ears flattening.

"I think Rabbitstar will calm down with time," Grovepelt spoke up. "He is inexperienced and hot-headed, but not stupid. After we defeated him in battle, I'm sure he will have been knocked down from his high perch. Green-leaf has only just begun—the moors will be full of rabbits, and he will realize that he has nothing to gain by antagonizing ThunderClan. Or, us for that matter. They don't even like being on territory under trees anyway."

Sedgestar nodded along in agreement.

"Fennelstar, on the other paw, has always been territory hungry since the moment he became leader," Grovepelt said. "And, it doesn't help that SkyClan territory and ThunderClan territory are so closely matched; they feel right home in it. Leaf-bare hit ThunderClan hard, and if SkyClan has not relented with pushing at their border, it is no surprise to me that ThunderClan is still struggling to find food."

"Yes, as difficult as it might be for poor Morningstar, I have always been grateful to have ThunderClan as a buffer between us and Fennelstar," Sedgestar said with a soft growl. "I don't think for a moment that he wouldn't try to sink his teeth into our pines, if he was close enough to reach."

"So, what should we do?" Dappledpelt asked, her tail twitching anxiously.

"We watch and wait for now," Sedgestar said. "In the meanwhile, I will shift our focus from the WindClan border to the ThunderClan. I believe Morningstar when he says that he doesn't want to attack us. But, if this skirmish is any indiction, his warriors, and deputy, seem restless and angry. It wouldn't be unthinkable that they go behind their leader's back to find prey in our territory."

Frostpaw's eyes flew wide at the idea. She couldn't imagine for one heartbeat any cat in ShadowClan so blatantly disobeying their leader's orders. Every ShadowClan cat held Sedgestar with the highest regard.

 _But, it sounds like other clans don't have as good of a leader as we do…_

"The next gathering will be coming up in only a few sunrises," Sedgestar continued. "We should be able to get a better sense of the state of ThunderClan, and SkyClan, then."

Sedgestar flicked his tail to dismiss Dappledpelt and Swoopstrike. Swoopstrike turned around and his eyes went wide when he saw Frostpaw and Mosspaw standing so closely nearby.

"Were you two here the whole time?" Swoopstrike demanded.

"Relax Swoopstrike," Grovepelt said with a rumbling purr, his eyes already half-lidded with sleep again. "The apprentices are only curious, and this wasn't a private meeting."

Swoopstrike huffed, but didn't reply to the deputy.

"Go get something to eat," he said to Frostpaw. "And, relax for a bit. We'll continue training after sun-high is over."

"Same thing goes for you," Dappledpelt said to Mosspaw.

Frostpaw nodded. She padded over to the fresh-kill pile with Mosspaw. It was full of prey, and Frostpaw's belly rumbled when she spotted a juicy looking startling on the pile. But, as she sniffed at the pile of prey, she noticed Mosspaw watching her out of the corner of her eye, a hopeful expression on the younger apprentice's face. Frostpaw diverted away from the startling and picked up the frog Mosspaw had caught earlier.

"Mmm this looks great," Frostpaw said, blinking affectionately at Mosspaw.

Mosspaw's tail stuck up in delight, a purr rumbling in her throat. Mosspaw chose a shrew for herself and the two apprentices took their prey to a patch of sunlight on the ground to eat. As Frostpaw took the first bite of fresh-kill, she felt a little pang that she hadn't picked the startling, but as the days passed, the taste of frog was growing on her at least. As they ate, Frostpaw saw Autumnpaw returning from training with Beeclaw. Frostpaw waved her tail to get his attention, and Autumnpaw headed over to them after grabbing a piece of prey off the pile for himself.

"Hey Frostpaw, hey Mosspaw," he said after dropping his prey and plopping down next to Frostpaw. "How was your dawn patrol?"

 _"So_ exciting!" Mosspaw exclaimed. "We got into a fight with ThunderClan!"

"Woah really?" Autumnpaw asked, around a mouthful of meat, his eyes wide.

He nudged Frostpaw's shoulder.

"Why do you manage to always get in trouble without me there?" he teased.

"It was barely a fight," Frostpaw added. "Morningstar called them back right away. He wasn't happy with his warriors."

"Then we talked to Sedgestar about it!" Mosspaw continued, her words spilling out of her mouth rapidly. "He thinks SkyClan and ThunderClan are fighting and that's why ThunderClan is being so weird. And, that the gathering is soon, and we'll try to figure out more then. It's so exciting! I hope I get to go! I'll try to talk to as many ThunderClan and SkyClan cats as possible. It'll be like being a spy!"

"That does sound interesting," Autumnpaw said, his tail-tip twitching thoughtfully. "I hope I'm chosen to go this next gathering."

"Me too," Frostpaw added. "I'd like to see what happens."

But, as Frostpaw spoke she felt her thoughts turning away from the ThunderClan and SkyClan mystery and drifting towards another mystery surrounding just one cat— Paledusk, the SkyClan deputy. In her mind, she saw the white tom's wide-eyed gaze as he looked at her, the horrified recognition sweeping across his face like a wave.

Frostpaw's pelt prickled. Her thoughts had mostly been distracted by training for this past moon, but she hadn't forgotten about him. She couldn't shake the feeling that he knew something about her or her mother, something more than he was letting on at least.

 _I'll talk to him next gathering._

Frostpaw felt her belly go tight with nerves at the thought, but she knew she had to do it. It would bother her forever like a thorn in her side if she was too much of a coward to talk to Paledusk.

"What are you thinking about?" Autumnpaw asked as he finished his fresh-kill, nudging her side as she stared emptily out into space.

Frostpaw shook her head like she was trying to shake off her thoughts.

"SkyClan," she meowed, semi-truthfully. "I just… want to know what's going on."

"Well, they are pretty far away from ShadowClan. So, hopefully whatever it is, it won't matter to us," Autumnpaw said with a yawn, lowering his head onto his paws.

Frostpaw sighed quietly as she thought of Paledusk.

She hoped Autumnpaw was right.

Frostpaw glanced over at him and watched as Autumnpaw was lulled to sleep by the warm sunlight. Even Mosspaw had grown quiet after she had filled her belly with food, and the soporific effect of sun-high crept over her. Soon Frostpaw was the only one left awake.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_ Hey guys! Good to be back, sorry I'm being so bad at posting on a regular schedule right now.

Also, I've had more than one person ask me about Autumnpaw's name, so I'm going to try to clear it up here. Honestly when I picked that name, I thought it was pretty sounding and nature-y, but I totally forgot that the cats probably don't know that word since they use the term "leaf-fall" instead. Once this was pointed out to me, I already had a lot written and it seemed like too much work/and I liked to name too much to change it. So, his name is staying "Autumn."

Slightly tangental, but related: the terms "leaf-bare, leaf-fall, new-leaf, and green-leaf" have always struck me as odd anyway. Like, the cats having their own words for human related things (two-legs, monsters, thunder-path etc) makes sense. But, I don't get why the cats would use "human" terms for all season related things like the sun, moon, weather, temperature, prey, forests, etc yet they don't use the "human" words for the name of the season. Like if their vocabulary concerning nature also included words like (I don't know, this is just off the top of my head) "falling-water" for rain, or squirrels as "bushy-tails" or mice as "squeakers," then the terms "green-leaf, leaf-fall, leaf-bare, new-leaf" wouldn't feel out of place. But, as it stands, they do.

 _Reviews:_

Kitty-Guardian Dorothy: Dewleaf is a lot more chill than Dampfang haha. She doesn't care much either way.

Fadingspirit: Hey thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying it!

Th3DoomSlay3r: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

The Guardian of The Sky: Thank you! It's really nice to have you reading! This chapter has more Swoopstrike for you haha. As for Paledusk and Frostpaw… I'm still building to what's going to happen with them so I can't say much!


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